


' 



THE 



FIRST BOOK 



ANVARI SUHELI 



A LITERAL TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH, 



REV. H. G. K E E N E, 

LATE ARABIC AND PERSIAN PROFESSOR, AT THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE, 
HAILEYBURY, HERTS. 



HERTFORD : 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ST. AUSTIN & SONS, 

BOOKSELLERS AND STATIONERS TO THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE ; 
AND 

SOLD BY WHITTAKER & CO. 13, AVE MARIA LANE, LONDON. 

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TO THE 



STUDENTS AT THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE. 



GENTLEMEN, 

I had the satisfaction for several years to 
serve as a Professor in your College : I wish I could think 
that my usefulness was equal to my earnest desire for the 
prosperity of our Indian Possessions; the welfare of the Natives; 
and the health and happiness of those who are called by 
Providence to the important duty of governing those ancient 
and interesting Nations. 

At the request of the Students, I translated a portion 
of the ANVARI SUHELI, to help them in learning Persian. 

Permit me thus to offer it to your use ; partly that I may 
make this public avowal of the deep interest I shall always 
feel in the prosperity of the College ; and partly that I may 
indulge the hope of not being forgotten among you. 

I have the honour to be, 

GENTLEMEN, 

In great truth, 
Your earnest well-wisher, 

H. G. KEENE. 



PREFACE, 



The sole object of this Translation is to help 
those who are learning Persian, to read the original 
with such ease, that they shall at once feel the appropriate 
sense of each word; and shall, imperceptibly, fall into 
the proper order of arranging the words, and acquire 
a familiarity with the idiomatic turns of the language. 
The learner must, however, take the trouble of referring 
to the Dictionary, for those words of which he does not 
know the original, as well as the figurative, meaning ; 
and he must be careful to note down every example, 
where the grammatical construction of Persian differs 
from that of the Classical Languages : and then he will 
not find much difficulty in turning such a Translation 
as this back into Persian. 

With these objects in view, the Translation has 
been made as literal as possible ; and except where the 
passage was very simple, an attempt has been made to 
represent each separate word of the original, and to 
place the words, or at least the clauses of each sentence, 
very nearly in the order in which they would stand in 
Persian. And the consequence has been, that the 
language of the Translation is neither pure nor elegant; 
and may, in some parts, perhaps, be found incorrect 
and obscure. 



IV. PREFACE. 

If the object bad been to amuse tbe reader with the 
story, or with an example of the ornaments of Persian 
composition, a very different course must have been 
pursued ; and such faults would deserve censure : but, 
when the purpose is rather to teach the language, than 
to give the sense of the author, such defects are 
inevitable ; and are hardly to be reckoned as such. 

Those for whose service this Translation has been 
made, will feel both the difficulty and the usefulness of 
the task ; and will be slow to censure those blemishes 
by which they benefit : if it should chance to fall into 
the hands of others, they are requested, in candour, to 
consider the object that was in view. 

It would be a bold thing to say, that, even as a 
literal translation, it has no faults. It requires a more 
thorough knowledge, than any foreigner can hope to 
acquire, to seize the exact meaning of all those idioms, 
refined similies, and distant allusions, in which the 
Persian language abounds. And the Translator is 
aware, that he may have fallen into some mistakes, 
either from ignorance or inadvertence ; and he regrets 
that he had not the advantage of consulting one who 
was able to set him right. It is hoped, however, 
that such mistakes, are not numerous, and that they 
will be viewed with indulgence. 



CHAPTER I. 

On avoiding the Words of a Traducer and a Talebearer. 



1HE great Prince Dabashalim said to the sage Pilpai 
thus — the purport of the first testament was this, that when 
any one becomes eminent by the honor of a near inter- 
course with princes, he will assuredly be an object of envy 
to his contemporaries ; and envious men labouring for the 
destruction of the stability of his dignity will change the 
mind of the king by words mingling deceit. It behoves 
a king, therefore, that he should reflect well upon the 
language of a man of selfish views; and when it is known 
that it is not devoid of mixture and pollution, he should not 
allow it to approach the confines of consent. Couplets. 
"Admit not a man of selfish designs to your presence: for 
he has mixed together the sweet draught, and the sting : 
in appearance he gives the draught, and shews kindness : 
in reality he strikes the sting, and works mischief." Now 
I entreat of the Brahman that he would relate some tale 
adapted to the case ; and that he would set forth in detail 
the story of some one who may have been taken into close 
intimacy with a king ; but by the designing language of 
the envious, the foundation of his station has suffered in- 
jury, and friendship has concluded in enmity, and concord 
in contention. The Brahman replied thus — the axis of 
the foundations of sovereignty are on this testament ; for 
if a king does not restrain designing people from making 
strife and doing mischief, they will render the greater part 



of the pillars of the state vexed and mortified ; and general 
confusion will thereby both find a way through thekingdom, 
and also infect the prince : and whenever a wicked pro- 
moter of strife finds room for interference between two 
friends, the conclusion of their business will certainly draw 
towards dismay and melancholy ; as it was between the lion 
and the ox. The prince asked how that had happened. 

Story. 
The Brahman said. They have related that there 
was a certain merchant ; he had measured the stations 
of land and sea ; he had (folded) travelled over the climes 
of east and west ; experienced the cold and heat of time; 
and often tasted the bitter and the sweet of the days. 
Distich. — "A prudent man, faithful and skilled in busi- 
ness ; and by reason of experience very well informed." 
When the advanced guard of the army of death, which is 
used as a term for the debility of old age, began to rush 
upon the empire of his constitution ; and the scouts of 
the army of fate, which is an allusion to white hair, took 
possession of the neighbouring country of the fortress of 
his frame. Poetry. — " When the drum of sickness beats 
the change of the watch for old age ; the heart becomes 
cold to pleasure and enjoyment ; white hair brings a mes- 
sage from fate ; the bent back brings a salutation from 
death." The good man perceived that they were going- 
each moment to beat out the drum of departure ; and 
were about to claim back the capital stock of life, which 
is a store, laid up as a deposit in the house of the 
body ; he called his children together, who were three 
honest and intelligent young men ; but in the infa- 
tuation of riches and the impetuosity of youth, having 
wandered from the path of rectitude, they used to put 
forth the hand of extravagance on the wealth of their 
father ; and having shewn an aversion to any trade or 
profession, they passed their valuable time in vanity and 
sloth. The affectionate father, from that excess of love 



and tenderness which belongs to the paternal character, 
began to advise his children, and opened unto them the 
gates of disinterested admonitions founded upon the com- 
prehensive principles of hope and fear ; and spake thus : 
O young men, if you do not know the value of that 
wealth, in the attainment of which not a single care has 
reached you, you are excused according to the principles of 
prudence ; but one should understand that wealth may 
become a fund of happiness in this world and the next ; 
and all that men seek of the distinctions of either world, 
may be obtained by means of wealth ; for the people of 
the world are seeking for one of three conditions : the 
first is, abundance of living, and ease in the means of it ; 
and this is the object of those whose wishes are founded 
upon drinking, and dressing, and labouring for the grati- 
fication of the pleasures of sense : the second is exaltation 
of rank, and increase of dignity ; and that class whose 
object is this, they are people of distinction and eminence; 
and to these two conditions, it is not possible to reach 
except by wealth : the third is, the attainment of the 
rewards of futurity, and arriving at the heights of glory ; 
and the class who turn their attention to this object are 
people of sanctity and holiness : and the attainment of 
this rank is also to be brought about by lawful wealth. 
The blessing of wealth is pure to a man who is pure. As 
the mystic sage has said in his verses. " If thou bearest 
wealth for the sake of religion — the prophet has said of 
it : good is the wealth that is pure." Thus it is plain, that 
by the blessing of wealth most of our objects may be ac- 
complished ; and the attainment of wealth without labour 
and pursuit seems impossible ; and if in a few instances a 
man obtains wealth without trouble, since he has suffered 
no vexation in the attainment of it, then assuredly, not 
knowing the worth and value of it, he will soon fling it 
away; therefore departing from sloth, turn to industry, and 
be occupied in this art of commerce which you have so 



long observed in inc. The elder son said : — my father, you 
direct ns to exertion, but this is a denial of resignation ; 
and I know to a certainty that whatever fortune is de- 
creed, though I should make no exertion in the pursuit of 
it, will certainly befal me, and that which is no part of 
my fortune whatever pains I may take in pursuit of it will 
do no good. Verses. — " Whatever is my lot will come in 
time — and that, which is not, will doubtless never happen 
— then, in search of that which will not come to pass — 
why should one suffer useless trouble." And I have heard 
that an eminent person has said : "Whatever was my lot, 
though I fled from it, it hung upon me ; and that which 
was not my destiny, though I clung to it, escaped me," 
and so whether we work or do nothing, in all respects — it 
is impossible to cast off from oneself the destiny of fate : 
as for instance, the story of those two sons of a king is 
an evidence of the case ; where the father's wealth fell into 
the hands of one without any trouble, while the other lost 
country and kingdom in the hope of that treasure. The 
father asked how that had come to pass — The son said, 

Story. 
In the country of Aleppo there was a king, pros- 
perous, powerful and high in dignity; who had seen many 
vicissitudes of fortune, and witnessed many changes of 
night and day ; and he had two sons who had fallen into 
the whirlpool of the pride of youth, and were intoxicated 
with the spirit of the wine of pleasure ; and were contin- 
ually given to sports and amusements, and occupied in 
music and festivity ; while they listened to the notes of 
this song from the tongue of the lute and the pipe 
— strive after pleasure ; for before you can shut your 
eye, the autumn comes on, and the fresh spring passes 
away. The king was wise, and a man of experience, who 
possessed abundant jewels and endless gold — when he saw 
the manners of his children, he was afraid that after him, 
listing all those savings into the danger of extravagance, 



they would give them to the wind of destruction according 
to their wants. Now there was a devotee in that neigh- 
bourhood, who had turned his back on worldly affairs, 
and set his face upon preparing the stores of futurity — he 
was inflamed with the beams of the manifestation of glory 
— bewildered in the presence of his Lord. The king had 
an affection for him, and had the utmost confidence with 
respect to him ; having collected the whole of his riches, 
he buried them in his cell, in such a way that no one got 
information of it. He then gave this injunction to the 
holy man. "When faithless fortune and inconstant 
prosperity shall turn away their faces from my children ; 
and the fountain head of prosperity, which like the mirage 
is nothing but an illusion, has been choked up with the 
dust of misfortune ; and my children are reduced in cir- 
cumstances and destitute ; you may tell them of this 
treasure : perhaps, after having seen trouble and suffered 
difficulty, they may take warning, and may spend it in a 
prudent manner ; and having turned from profusion and 
extravagance, may observe the limits of rectitude." The 
hermit accepted this trust from the king; and the king 
with a view to the expediency of the case, having prepared a 
well in a palace that he had, pretended that he kept his 
treasure buried there ; and acquainted his sons, that when 
any occasion of necessity should arise, there was an ample 
treasure stored up there, upon which they might live. 
After this transaction, in a very little time the king and 
the hermit, having both obeyed the call of the Lord, fell 
senseless with the cup of " every soul must taste of 
death." Every one that is born, of necessity, it belongs 
to him to drink, from the cup of fate, the wine of " all 
creatures on the earth decay." And the treasure that 
was buried in the hermit's cell, remaining hidden and 
concealed, no one happened to get intimation of it. 

After the death of the father, the brothers fell to quar- 
relling and fighting about the division of his dominions 



8 

and wealth ; and the elder, by superior strength and 
consequence having succeeded, took every thing into 
his own disposal, and left his younger brother sorrowful 
and forlorn. The disconsolate man, bereaved of royal 
dignity, and stripped of his hereditary fortune, considered 
with himself thus : since the sun of prosperity and pomp 
has turned to the west of decline, and the cruel heavens 
have displayed infidelity and imposture, what good can it 
do to set out once more in pursuit of the world, or again 
to make trial of what has once been tried. Verses. — "The 
whole of the world, from first to last, since it passes 
away, is not worth a barley-corn : betake yourself to some 
better kingdom than this ; open the door to some plea- 
santer chamber than this." Nothing can be better than 
this, that since the collar of fortune has dropped from the 
grasp of controul, I will catch hold of the skirt of resig- 
nation and contentment ; nor will I fling away the dignity 
of that holy poverty which is a royalty that never fades. 
The dervise to whom the treasures of contentment are 
consigned, has the name of dervise (a poor man); but he 
is the sovereign of the world. So, with this determination, 
he left the city, and said to himself, there was a hermit, 
a great friend of my father's ; the wisest thing, in my 
condition, is to seek his cell, and at his feet, by a 
course of austerity follow the path of devotion. When 
he reached the cell he discovered that the parrot of his 
noble soul had taken flight from the cage of his body 
towards the gardens in paradise on high ; and that the cell 
was empty of that sage of enlightened mind. For a little 
while, grief and sorrow at this event overcame him ; at 
last, being satisfied with the same hermitage for his 
dwelling, in the warmth of his attachment he became the 
keeper of the place. Now there was a channel in the 
neighbourhood of the hermitage ; and they had dug a 
well inside the hermitage and had made a way to the 
channel ; so the water always came by that channel into 



the well, and the inhabitants of the hermitage made use of 
it for their total and partial ablutions. The prince let his 
bucket down into the well one day ; but there was no 
sound of water ; he examined narrowly and there was no 
water at the bottom : he began to wonder what accident 
had happened that the water did not come into the well ; 
and thought if any complete obstruction had taken place in 
the well and the channel, and that it was altogether shut 
up, it would be impossible to remain any longer in the 
place. So in order to investigate the matter, he went 
down into the well, and examined every side and part of 
the well, and the water, and the passage with a look of 
minuteness. On a sudden, an excavation appeared, from 
which some mass had fallen into the water-course, and 
prevented the water from running into the well. He said 
to himself, why where can this excavation go to ; and 
where can this opening end ? So he made the opening 
a little wider ; and no sooner stepped into it, than he came 
upon the midst of his father's treasures. The prince, 
as he beheld those countless riches, and that boundless 
wealth, prostrated himself in gratitude to God, and said, 
although it is immense wealth and jewels without number, 
yet must I not deviate from the path of resignation, nor 
from the way of contentment ; and I must use it in 
proportion to my wants— that we may see what will come 
forth from hidden things. 

On the other hand, the elder brother being established 
in his government, would take no care of his people and 
his troops ; but wasted every thing that he could lay his 
hands upon, in expectation of the fancied treasure which 
he supposed to be in his father's palace ; and from excess 
of pride and arrogance made no inquiry after his brother, 
but rather felt ashamed of attachment to him. When he 
least expected, an enemy appeared against him, and at- 
tacked his dominions with a desolating and cruel army. 
The prince found his treasury empty, and his troops 



10 

unprovided and in a miserable state ; so he came to the spot 
where the father had pointed out the treasure, that he 
might, with those great riehes equip the army — no kingdom 
without men, and no men without money: — but the more 
he increased his exertions the less could he find any traces 
of the treasure ; and the more labour and perseverance he 
shewed, the more was he disappointed of the attainment of 
his object. Distich. — " Listen to this secret, that you may 
relieve yourself from care; you will drink your blood, if you 
look for the provision that is not laid up for you." And when 
he despaired altogether of the treasure, he laid hold of all 
sorts of devices, and got his army in order, and, marching 
to repel the enemy, left the city. After the line of battle 
had been drawn up on both sides, and the fire of slaughter 
had been kindled, an arrow from the ranks of the enemy 
hit a vital part of the prince, and he died on the spot ; on 
this side also they shot an arrow, and the foreign king was 
likewise slain ; and both armies were left in confusion and 
without a leader. It was very near, that the fire of strife 
should begin to blaze, and the inhabitants of both countries 
be burnt in riot and disorder. At last the chiefs of both 
armies met together, and by mutual consultation looked out 
for a king of a generous nature and virtuous disposition, and 
for a legal house and sovereign race ; to whom they might 
commit the business of government and the affairs of state; 
and the general opinion became fixed on this, that the 
auspicious prince whose fortunate forehead w T as worthy of 
the crown of eminence, and whose happy finger was fit 
for the seal of empire, was that contented prince. The 
men of authority of the two countries went to the door of 
the hermitage, and conducted the prince w T ith the greatest 
veneration and honour from the corner of neglect to the 
court of applause ; from the cell of retirement to the chief 
place on the throne of prosperity. Thus by the blessing 
of resignation, he both found the treasures of his father ; 
and the dominions of his father were also confirmed to 



11 

him. Now I have brought forward this example that it 
may be known for a truth, that the obtaining of what is 
destined for us, has no connection with labour and 
industry, and that to place our confidence in resignation 
is better than to rest upon diligence. Verses. — "There is 
no course of industry better than resignation ; what is 
more desirable than resigning oneself. Lo ! be resigned, 
and stir not hand nor foot ; for thy destiny is more 
attached to thee than thou art to thyself. If thou hadst 
had a little patience, thy destined portion would have 
come ; and flung itself upon thee like a lover." 

When the son had brought this story to an end, the 
father said, all thou hast said is right and true ; but this 
world is a world of means and secondary causes ; and the 
divine ways so proceed that the appearance of most 
worldly events is connected with secondary causes. And 
the advantages of industry are more than those of resig- 
nation ; for the profit of resignation just rests with him 
who is resigned, and that is all ; while the benefits of 
industry pass from the industrious man to another ; and 
to convey benefit is a proof of virtue ; for " the best of 
u men is he who benefits mankind ;" and a man who is 
able to cause good to another, it would be a shame that he 
should take to indolence and receive benefits from others. 
Perhaps thou hast never heard the story of that person, 
who, after he had observed the fortune of the crow and 
the raven, laid aside industry, and by that means the divine 
wrath fell upon him. The son enquired how that had 
happened; and the father said, 

Story. 

They have related, that a poor man was going through 
a wilderness, and meditating upon signs of mercy and in- 
stances of power: on a sudden he saw a sharp-winged 
falcon, having a piece of flesh in her talons, who was 
hovering about a tree, and going round a nest in extreme 
agitation. The man, wondering at the meaning of this, 

c 



12 

stopped some time to look. He saw an unfledged raven 
lying in the nest ; and the falcon kept dividing the meat 
into pieces, and in proportion to the craw of the unfledged 
raven, put it into his mouth. The man exclaimed, " Glory 
to God! behold his sovereign bounty and unlimited kind- 
ness; for he doth not leave without food, in the corner of 
this nest, the unfledged raven, which has neither power to 
fly nor vigour to attack." Verses. — " The surface of the 
earth is His universal board; at this open table, what if it 
be foe, what if it be friend. He hath spread so wide the 
table of His bounty, that the Shnurgh eats his daily bread 
in the mountain of Kfif. " Then I, who never rest in the 
search of food, and who turning my head to the deserts of 
avarice, earn a little bread by any device ; certainly this is 
a languor of confidence, a weakness of faith. Verses. — 
' f He who sends the food is surety for the food; how long 
shall I run on every side, like the base: with a cheerful 
heart, let me fetch my breath; for whatever befals me is 
my lot, and no more." It is better that henceforth I should 
lay the head of tranquillity on the knee of retirement; and 
draw a line of suppression across the page of industry and 
business. "Our daily sustenance is with God; He is 
blessed and high. " Then, having washed his hands of all 
worldly means, he sat down in a corner; and fixed his sim- 
ple mind on the faultless bounty of the great first cause. 
"Fixnot thy heart on secondary causes; and do not abandon 
the causer of those causes." For three days and nights he 
remained in a cell; but no relief appeared from any pas- 
sing event; and every moment he became more weak and 
languid. At last debility came to excess, and the recluse 
became greatly reduced; and was prevented from per- 
forming the duties of obedience and prayer. The Almighty 
sent the prophet of that age to him, and in great dis- 
pleasure gave this message, " My servant, I have laid the 
course of the world upon second causes, and intermediate 
means: and though my power is able to bring great events 



13 

to pass, without any intermediate cause, yet my wisdom 
has ordained that the greater part of important affairs 
shall be prepared and accomplished by secondary means : 
and by this means the rule of giving and receiving benefit 
is extended. And thus, if thou canst be a means of advan- 
tage to another, it is better than that thou shouldst receive 
benefit by the means of another. " Couplet. — " Be like 
the falcon ; that thou mayest take thy prey, and give a 
mouthful : be not a base uninvited guest, like the unfledged 
raven. " Now I have introduced the story for this, that 
thou mayest know that it is not practicable for all persons 
to reject the interposition of secondary means; and that a 
right resignation is, that, with attention to secondary 
causes, a man should be firm in his trust in God ; so 
that he may partake of the gracious promise, " an indus- 
trious man is the friend of God. " And one of our great 
men has said " follow some business, that thou be not 
slothful; yet hold thy food to be from God, that thou 
become not an infidel." Verses. — "Be not, by resigna- 
tion, slothful of the means ; and hear this saying, he that 
labours is the friend of God. If thou dost trust in God, 
do it in thy labours, and follow thy calling; then rely on 
the Almighty. " 

Another son then began to say, father, we have not 
the strength for an entire trust in God ; there is no remedy 
against some course of exertion : but when we engage in 
business, and God supplies us with some wealth and pro- 
vision out of the stores of his goodness, what must we 
do with it? The father replied, to collect wealth is 
easy; but to take care of it, and make a good use of it, is 
difficult. When money comes into the hands of any one, 
he must look upon two things as belonging to it. One is, 
that he must take care of it, in such a way that it may be 
safe from waste and plunder; and that the hand of the 
housebreaker, the highwayman, or the pick-pocket, may 
come short of it; for gold has many friends, and the rich 



14 

man has numerous enemies. Couplet. — " The heavens 
never attaek the destitute; hut assault the cavalcade of 
the pompous. " The other is, that he should derive be- 
nefit from the profits of, but not squander the capital ; for 
if men spend all out of their stock, and are not content 
with the profits of it ; in a very little time the dust of decay 
will arise out of it. Verses. — " Every sea to which no 
water runs ; will soon become a dry place. If thou take 
from a hill, and lay nothing instead ; in the end the hill 
will tumble down." 

Whoever has no income, yet always spends ; or whose 
expences are beyond his income ; in the end he will fall 
into a labyrinth of poverty. It is very possible that his 
conduct may end in destruction ; just as that wasteful 
rat killed himself with vexation. The son asked how that 
had come to pass ; and the father said, 

Story. 

They have related that a villager had laid up a quantity 
of grain in store, in a barn ; and had shut up every chan- 
nel to the employment of it ; that on the day when want 
should come to excess, and necessity to its limit, he might 
derive advantage from it. By chance a rat, who from 
excess of greediness would have wanted to steal grains 
from the granary of the moon, or to snatch with the 
claws of avarice, the bunch of the Pleiades from the corn- 
field of the sky, had a house in the vicinity of that place, 
and a nest in the neighbourhood of that barn. He was 
always digging about under ground on every side, and 
with his rock-rending teeth cutting a hole in every direc- 
tion ; on *i sudden the end of the hole came out into the 
midst of the grain ; and grains of wheat, like glittering 
sparks from heaven, came pouring down through the roof 
of his house. The rat saw that the promise of " in the 
heavens is your food" had come to fulfilment ; and that 
the saying " seek your food in the bowels of the earth " 
was become clear. On the appearance of this abundance 



15 

he poured forth the duties of thanksgiving ; and, by the 
attainment of these jewels of great price, having got great 
opulence, he began to shew the pride of Crcesus, and the 
arrogance of Pharoah. In a little while, all the rats of the 
district, having got news of the particulars of the case, 
girded up the loins of service in attendance upon him. 
Couplet. — " These false friends, which thou seest, are flies 
about some sweetmeat." — These friends of the dish, and 
companions of the cup, collected about him : and, as 
their fashion is, having formed their plans of flattery, 
never would say a word but according to the wish of his 
mind, and the desire of his nature ; nor ever loosened 
their tongues, but in praise and admiration of him. And 
he also, loosening his tongue in vanity and boasting, and 
opening his hand in prodigality, in the belief that the 
grain of that house would never have an end, and that 
wheat would always be pouring and running from that 
hole, used every day to expend a large quantity of it on 
his companions ; and paying no regard to the future, 
never turned himself from the fancy of to-day to reflec- 
tion on to-morrow. " Cup-bearer, let us drink our wine 
to-day, for who has ever seen to-morrow." 

Now while the rats were engaged in festivity in that 
snug retreat, the assault of famine and a scanty year had 
cast down the people ; and the fire of hunger was kindled 
in the breasts of the portionless whose hearts were con- 
sumed. On every side they would offer an object of 
affection for a loaf, and no one paid the least regard ; in 
every direction they were selling the goods of their 
houses for a dinner, but nobody would buy them. Verses. 
— " Whoever had a desire to see a cake ; might look at 
the orb of the sun in the heavens, and no more. By the 
scarcity a multitude were distressed ; the hungry were 
lamenting, and the full hard-hearted." 

The infatuated rat, having spread the carpet of indul- 
gence and luxury, neither knew of the famine, nor was 



16 

acquainted with the badness of the season. Some da\ s 
went by ; matters came to extremity with the peasant, 
and the knife was come to the bone : he opened the door 
of the house ; and saw that a great diminution had found 
its way to the corn. He drew a cold sigh from his hot 
heart, and having suffered much regret for the loss of it, 
said to himself, to lament over an event, the remedy for 
which is beyond the bounds of possibility, is not the way 
of wisdom : at present it seems best to collect the rest of 
the corn that is in this house, and remove it to another 
place. So the peasant set to work in taking out the 
portion that was left. 

Upon this occasion, the rat, who thought himself the 
master of the house, and the lord of the dwelling, was 
asleep ; and the other rats, in the excess of their cover 
tousness and greediness, never heard the sound of the 
peasant's feet, nor the noise of moving about over head ; 
but one among them, quick in sagacity, being aw T are of 
the matter, got upon the roof to find out the truth of it, 
and observed the particulars of the case through a 
window ; coming instantly down, and having told his 
friends the meaning of what was going on, he flung him- 
self out of the hole ; and they too, every one, went out to 
some corner ; and left their henefactor alone. Verses. — 
" All are your friends for the sake of the parings ; in quest 
of a mouthful, they have an affection for you. When your 
wealth falls off, they fall off in love ; they would wish your 
ruin for the sake of their own profit. With this handful 
of hypocritical friends, to cut is better than friendship." 

Next day w T hen the rat raised his head from the pillow 
of repose, though he looked carefully to the left and right, 
he saw none of his friends ; and the greater search he 
made before and behind, the fewer traces did he find of 
his associates. He began to exclaim and said, Couplet. 
— "The friends that were here ; what is become of them: 
Ah ! what was the matter ; that they have departed from 



17 

us ?" So, in order to learn the truth of their proceedings, 
he came out of his quiet lodging, after the long period in 
which he had sought retirement ; and having got intelli- 
gence of the calamity of the dearth, and the misery of the 
scarcity and high prices, he set off again in great conster- 
nation for his own house, that he might practise the 
utmost diligence in the preservation of the store that 
he had got. When he got home, he saw no traces of the 
wheat : and having gone by the hole into the granary 
there was not so mucji food to be found as would do for 
provision for one night. His endurance being bent down, 
he began to rend the collar of his condition with the 
hand of tribulation ; and beat his silly head so often 
on the ground, that his brains were scattered : thus, by 
shameful profusion, he fell into the labyrinth of ruin and 
worthlessness. 

Now the moral of the tale is this, that the expenses of 
a man ought to be suitable to his income ; that whatever 
funds he may possess, he should enjoy the profits only ; 
and should preserve his capital in such a way that no in- 
jury may happen to it. Couplet. — " Look every instant 
to your income and expenses ; and when you have no 
income, spend the more slowly." 

When the father had got through the end of his story, 
the younger son arose, and having arrayed the preface of 
his discourse with prayers and good wishes for his father, 
he said, but father, when a man, according to rule, has 
put his money by safely, and has derived a full profit from 
it, how is he to spend that profit. The father replied, 
in all things, the path of moderation is to be praised ; 
and especially in the manner of living. The man of wealth 
therefore, after he has made his profits, should observe two 
other rules ; first, he should avoid extravagance, and 
all unreasonable expenses, that it may not bring forth 
shame, and that men may net let loose the tongue 
of censure on him : for in truth the waste of property 



18 

and extravagance in expenditure is one of the delusions 
of the devil. " Truly the extravagant are the hrothers of 
devils." Verses. — " It is the opinion of men of great 
worth ; that parsimony is preferable to extravagance. 
Though to give is on all occasions captivating ; yet 
whatever is done in order is agreeable." Secondly, 
he should avoid the character of avarice, and the dis- 
grace of parsimony : for a miser has a bad name in 
religion and in the world ; and a worldly avaricious man 
is at all times reviled and the enemy of joy ; and the 
riches of the miser become, in the end, the target of the 
arrow of dissipation and waste ; as, for example, a large 
reservoir, into which water is continually flowing from 
several streams, and which has no outlet in proportion to 
the influx, it will certainly seek a way on every side, and 
burst out at every corner, and cracks will be made in the 
wall ; till at last, it comes to this, that all at once being 
broken down and destroyed, the whole of the water is 
spread abroad on all sides. " Threaten the miser with 
misfortune, or with an heir." Fragment. — "That wealth 
from which the miser took no share ; the hand of 
plunder scattered to the wind ; or it hath fallen to some 
heir, who never mentions his name but to express his scorn." 

When the sons had heard the advice of their father, 
and had clearly perceived the benefits of his discourse, 
each chose some occupation, and applied his hand to 
business. The elder brother turned himself to trade ; and 
undertook a distant journey. He had two baggage 
bullocks with him : the bull of the sphere would not have 
had the power to contend with their strength ; and the lion of 
the heavens, at their rage and fierceness, would, like a cat 
keeping a fast, conceal the claws of terror in the paw of 
helplessness. Couplet — " In stature like an elephant, in 
attack like a lion ; haughty in look, and resolute in pace." 

One was called Shatrabah, and the other Mandabah. 
The worthy merchant used always to provide for them, 



19 

and would himself do all that was necessary for them. 
But as the time of the journey grew long, and they went 
through tedious roads, languor crept upon their condition, 
and traces of debility were apparent on the forehead of 
their state. By chance, in the course of the road, a large 
morass lay before them. Shatrabah stuck in it ; the 
master gave orders, and by great stratagem they got him 
out : but as he had no power to move, his master hired 
a person whom he appointed to take care of him ; and it 
was settled that when he should recover a little strength 
he would bring him to the caravan. The hired servant, 
having passed a day or two in the midst of the desert, 
was melancholy from loneliness ; so having abandoned 
Shatrabah, he brought word to the merchant of his death. 
And at that stage, Mandabah, from excess of fatigue and 
separation from Shatrabah, ended his life. While Shatra- 
bah, in a short period, having recovered strength enough 
to move, was searching about for pasture in every direc- 
tion ; till he came to a meadow adorned with every kind 
of sweet smelling plants, and arrayed in every variety of 
herbage, paradise, out of envy of that garden, had bitten 
the finger of jealousy ; and the sky, at the sight of it, had 
opened the eye of amazement. Couplet. — " With flowers 
and fresh grass and running water ; may the evil eye be 
far oflf, thou wouldst say it is another paradise." 

The place was delightful to Shatrabah, and he unloaded 
the furniture of residence in the courts of that meadow. 
And when for a certain space he had grazed in that mea- 
dow, without any bond of constraint, or check of controul ; 
and had passed the time, after the desires of his heart, in 
that exhilirating air and charming plain, he became ex- 
tremely strong in body, and fat. The enjoyment of being 
refreshed, the relish of repose carried him so far that in 
tumultuous pleasure he bellowed aloud. There was, in 
the neighbourhood of the meadow, a lion of great fierce- 
ness and boldness : many of the gentle animals had bound 

D 



20 

up their loins in his service, and countless savage beasts 
bad laid the bead of obedience on the line of his au- 
thority. The lion, in the pride of youth, and the insolence 
of power and enjoyment, abundance of servants, and mul- 
titude of attendants, could not imagine any body greater 
than himself, and cared not for the tiger, quick in attack, 
nor the elephant, huge in shape ; but he had never seen 
an ox, nor heard its voice ; so when the bellowing of 
Shatrabah reached him, he was excessively frightened ; 
and from anxiety that the wild beasts should not know 
that terror had come over him, he would not stir in any 
direction, but kept quiet in bis place. 

Now among his attendants there were two cunning 
jackals; one Kalilah by name, the other Damanah. They 
both had a great reputation for intellect and sagacity ; but 
Damanah was of greater genius, and more ambitious in 
the pursuit of rank and honour. Damanah by his pene- 
tration, found out in the lion that dismay had overcome 
him, and that he was occupied with something passing 
through his mind ; so he said to Kalilah, what do you 
say about the state of the lion ; who has laid aside the 
pleasure of exercise, and lies still in one place. Couplet, 
— " The marks of melancholy on his forehead, have given 
notice of his mournful heart." Kalilah replied, what 
business have you with this question ? and what concern 
have you in saying such things ? Hemistich. — "Whence 
art thou ; and whence the talking of the secrets of state ?" 
Whilst we receive our food at the court of this prince ; 
and pass our days in repose, under the shade of his fortune, 
keep to this exactly ; and pass on from searching into the 
secrets of princes, and investigating their concerns : for 
we are not of that set, that we can be honoured with the 
familiarity of rulers, or that there should be any time for 
attention to our opinion among kings; and therefore to 
talk about them is to undertake what does not belong to 
us : and he that undertakes to meddle in an affair for 



21 

which he is not fit, the same will befal him which hap- 
pened to the monkey. Damanah asked how that fell out. 

Story. 
Kalilah said, they have related that a monkey saw a 
carpenter seated on a piece of wood, and sawing it. He 
had two wedges ; one he drove down into the cleft of the 
wood, that the sawing might he easy, and the way be 
open for the passage, of the saw ; and as soon as the cleft 
used to go beyond a certain limit, he would knock in the 
other and take out the former wedge : and in this manner 
he went on with his work ; and the monkey kept ad- 
miring it. On a sudden the carpenter rose up, in the 
midst of his work, on some urgent occasion ; and the 
monkey, the moment he saw the coast clear, sat down on 
the plank, and his hinder parts fell into the cleft on the 
side where it was sawed : he then pulled out the wedge 
from the cleft, which was in the front of the work, before 
driving in the other ; and, as soon as the wedge was 
drawn out, the two divisions of the wood uniting to- 
gether, the hind legs of the monkey were left fast in the 
middle of the wood. The wretched monkey, sick with 
pain, kept screaming and saying, Couplet. — " It is better 
that each person in the world should do his own work ; 
for that person who does not mind his own business, will 
do completely wrong. My work is to pick fruit ; not to 
use a saw : my business is to sport in the woods ; not 
to chop with hatchet and cleaver.'' Hemistich. — " To him 
who does such things, thus it will happen/' The monkey 
was in this talk with himself, when the carpenter returned 
and handled him as he deserved ; and the monkey's work, 
by this addition, ended in destruction : and hence thev 
say, Hemistich. — " Carpenter's work is not the business 
of a monkey." And I have produced this example that 
you may perceive that it behoves every person to follow 
his own business, and not to step beyond bounds : for 
every business there are men. And how beautifully have 



10 



they said, Couplet. — " I remember a proverb of one of 
my friends, there is work for every man, and a man for 
every work." This is no business of your's ; let it alone ; 
and reekon the small portion of food and subsistence 
which comes to us, as great spoils. 

Damanah said, whoever seeks to be about the persons 
of princes, ought not to do it for food and provision ; for 
the belly may be filled any where, and with any thing : 
but the advantage of paying court to kings is rather the 
obtaining a distinguished station that a man may in that 
situation be able to indulge his friends by his favour, and 
settle the affairs of his enemies with severity. He, whose 
spirit can bend the head for food, belongs to the class of 
animals ; like a hungry dog who delights in a bone ; or 
like a cat of base character, who is pleased with a morsel 
of bread. And I have observed that a lion, if he is pur- 
suing a hare, as soon as he spies an ass of the desert, he 
will let him alone and turn to the chase of the ass. 
Couplet. — " Exalt thy spirit, for with God and man ; thy 
consideration will be according to thy spirit." He who 
gains a lofty station, though like the rose he may be short- 
lived ; yet the wise reckon him as living long, because of 
his fair fame : while he who descends to meanness and 
baseness of spirit, though, like the leaves of the pine, he 
may long continue, yet he finds no consideration with 
persons of eminence, and they take no account of him. 
Couplet. — " Saadi! the man of good reputation never dies: 
a dead man, is one whom they never speak of for good." 

Kalilah replied, the pursuit of rank and office seems 
good in that class, who by nobility of connections, accom- 
plishment of manners, and high birth, have some fitness 
and pretension to them : but we are not of that stamp 
that we are adapted to high stations, or that we should 
make any exertion in pursuit of them. Couplet. — " I am 
dreaming about the bosom of the ocean ; alas ! what 
thing* are in the head of this drop,planning impossibilities." 



23 

Damanah said, the source of greatness is, talents and 
manners ; not descent and connections : whoever has a 
clear understanding, and perfect discretion, will raise him- 
self from the meanest station to the most honourable 
condition : and he who has a weak judgment, and a 
feeble understanding, will throw himself down from the 
highest station to the lowest rank. Fragment. — " By the 
sendee of a fine understanding and correct judgment; a 
man may throw the noose of disposal over the heavens ; 
and if the eyes of the mind are not opened by high enter- 
prise ; the attention can never be turned to lofty objects." 
And the ancients have observed that advancement to 
honourable posts comes to pass by much trouble ; but 
descent from a station of dignity is brought about with 
very little pains : just as one can with great fatigue raise a 
heavy stone from the earth upon one's back ; but can 
throw it upon the earth by a slight movement. And it is 
for this reason that none, but a man of lofty spirit who is 
able to endure difficulties, can find pleasure in striving 
after high things. Couplet. — " To venture upon love does 
not become the delicate ; my soul ; heroes, enduring 
calamity, rush into this tumult. " He who looks for the 
comfort of " obscurity is ease," having w T ashed his hands 
of reputation, will be for ever a recluse in the cell of 
misery and disappointment : while he who never thinks 
of the thorny plains of " notoriety is a misfortune," in a 
short time, having plucked the rose of desire, he will sit 
down in the garden of honour on the throne of enjoyment. 
Verses. — " While he suffers not sorrow nor pain, the 
worth of a man does not increase ; till the ruby has turned 
its heart into blood, it has acquired no value : the way- 
faring man, in the book of his happiness ; never found the 
writing of prosperity, without the blots of trouble." 

You have perhaps never heard the story of those two 
fellow-travellers ; one of whom by the endurance of diffi- 
culty and hardship reached the pinnacle of royalty ; while 



24 

the other, from sluggishness and self-indulgence, remained 
in the depth of poverty and distress. Kalilah asked in 
what manner that had been. 

Story. 

Damanah said : Two fellow-travellers, one called Salim, 
the other Ghanim, were going along the road ; and were 
getting over the halts and stages, in the society of each 
other. Their way lay by the skirt of a mountain, whose 
peak might hold the dappled grey of the sky, rein and 
rein ; and whose waist might bind the vault, whose girdle 
is the Zodiack, stirrup to stirrup. At the foot of the 
mountain was a spring of water, in clearness like the coun- 
tenance of fresh-faced, rosy-cheeked damsels ; and in 
sweetness like the words of the sugar-lipped and the 
sweet in speech : and in front of this spring a large bason 
had been dug, and all round it shady trees were entwined. 
Verses — " On one side the branches of odoriferous shrubs 
had sprouted ; and on the other side, the trees had shot 
up : the hyacinth fell down at the feet of the cypress ; 
and the violet was prostrate before the lily." 

To return to the story : the two companions arrived at 
that delicious point, from an alarming desert ; and when 
they saw this pleasant spot and delightful abode, there 
they halted for their accustomed repose ; and after resting 
they went walking in all directions about the bason and 
spring ; and cast their eyes about on every side. On a 
sudden they saw a white stone, at the edge of the bason, 
on that side where the water came in ; and it was thus 
written upon it, in characters of green, such as nothing but 
the pen of power could inscribe on the page of wisdom ; 
Traveller! thou hast ennobled this resting place by the 
honour of a halt ; know that we have made a repast for our 
guests, after the best manner ; and have arranged a table 
of advantage, in the handsomest way : but the condition 
is this, that giving up reflection, thou shalt step into this 
fountain; and, having no apprehension about the eddy or 



25 

the depth, fling thyself, in any way that thou canst, upon 
the bank ; then lift on thy back the lion cut out of stone, 
which they have set up at the foot of the mountain ; and 
take thyself without thought or hesitation, at one run to the 
top of the mountain ; and that thou never relax in thy 
labour from dread of the ravenous beasts which will meet 
thee, nor the fierceness of the liver-piercing thorns which 
will seize thee by the skirt : for when the road ends, the 
tree of desire will yield fruit. Tetrastich. — " As long as a 
man does not travel the road, he will not reach the halting 
place ; whilst he does not pluck out life, he will not pass 
to the world of spirits : if the whole of the world were to 
imbibe rays of favour ; one spark of light would not fall 
upon the slothful man." 

As soon as he comprehended the purport of the writing, 
Ghanim turned to Salim, saying, come along, brother; 
let us measure these plains of danger with the foot of 
intrepidity ; and let us make us every possible exertion to 
get a knowledge of the particulars of this talisman, 
Couplet. — " Either, in success, let us place our foot on 
the summit of the sphere ; or, like men, lay down our 
head for the schemes of ambition." 

Salim said, my dear friend, merely for a piece of writ- 
ing, the author of which is not known, and the true nature 
of which is not understood, to undertake a great danger, 
and upon the anticipation of a fanciful benefit and imagi- 
nary advantage, to cast oneself into great peril, is a proof 
of ignorance : no reasonable man would take poison to a 
certainty, and an antidote upon supposition ; nor would 
any prudent man agree to vexation in hard money for the 
sake of tranquillity upon credit. Couplet. — " It is not 
equal, in the opinion of a wise man ; one moment of 
sorrow with a thousand years of enjoyment." 

Ghanim rejoined, my affectionate companion, the love 
of ease is the forerunner of meanness and baseness ; but 
to encounter perils is a signal of fortune and honour. 



26 

Fragment. — " He who sought repose and quiet, never 
gladdened his heart with good fortune ; and he who was 
alarmed at the violence of the head-ache, never drank the 
cup of the wine of his wishes." The mind of a man lofty 
in enterprise, will not condescend to mere lodging and 
food ; and until he has gained an eminent station he will 
never rest in the pursuit : the rose of joy is not to be 
gathered without the thorn of trouble ; nor can the gates 
of the treasury of pleasure be opened except by the key 
of pain : now resolution having laid hold of my bridle will 
lead me to the top of the hill ; nor shall I think about the 
whirlpool of difficulty nor the endurance of the burthen of 
hardship. Couplet. — " If, in the search of it, some sor- 
row should befall us, it is natural ; but when there is a 
fondness for the temple, how easy are the deserts !" Salim 
replied : granted, that in the hope of the spring of pros- 
perity, one may bear with the confusion of the autumn 
of distress ; yet still to rush into a path that has no end, 
to swim through an ocean which has no visible shore, 
appears to be far from the path of discretion. Whoever 
begins upon any business, it behoves him, as he has made 
himself acquainted with the commencement, so also to 
look to the conclusion ; and from the first, having con- 
sidered the issue, he should weigh the injury and the 
advantage in the balance of reason ; that he may not have 
suffered labour in vain, nor thrown away his valuable life 
to the wind of destruction. Verse. — " Whilst thou can- 
not make a firm place for thy foot, do not advance in 
pursuit of any affair : in all the undertakings that thou 
comest into, first, make straight some gap for getting out 
of them." 

Perhaps these lines may have been written as a joke, 
or this writing have been traced in amusement and sport ; 
and the fountain be a whirlpool through which it is not 
possible to get to the edge by swimming : and if escape 
should be practicable, it is possible that the weight of the 



27 

stone lion may be of such sort that it is not to be lifted 
upon the back; and if that too should come to pass, it 
may be that thou wilt not be able, in one run, to get to 
the top of the mountain : and if all these things should 
be done, it is not at all known, what result they may pro- 
duce. I, at least, am not a companion in this transaction; 
and forbid you moreover from advancing in the business. 

Ghanim replied : have done with these words ; for I 
will not turn away from my resolution for the words of 
any man ; nor will I break the engagement that I have 
contracted, for the suggestions of all the devils among 
men and genii. I know very well that thou hast not 
energy to bear me company ; and that thou wilt never 
consent to join me ; look on, then, for amusement ; and 
keep giving me a little help by thy prayers and supplica- 
tions. Couplet. — " I know thou hast not the strength to 
drink wine ; come then, at least, to be amused with the 
intoxicated." 

Salim saw that he was a man of one motive only in his 
proceedings : so he said, I perceive, my brother, that 
thou art not to be kept back, by my words, and thou wilt 
not give up this attempt which is not fit to be made : nor 
have I the strength to endure witnessing this event ; nor 
can I be amused with a matter which is neither agreeable 
to my nature nor acceptable to my feelings. I find my 
best course to be this. Verses. — " That I should carry 
forth my own baggage from this pathless wilder: ess." 
Then, laying what baggage he had on his beast, he bade 
farewell to his friend, and pursued his journey. 

Ghanim, having washed his heart of his life, advanced 
to the edge of the fountain and said, Couplet. — " I will 
plunge into the boundless deep ; either to sink, or to 
fetch up the pearl." Then firmly binding round his loins 
the skirt of resolution, he stepped into the fountain. 
Couplet. — " It was not a fountain ; but rather an ocean 
which there displayed itself in the form of a fountain." 

E 



28 

Ghiiniin knew that this fountain was a whirlpool of 
trouble ; but, having a stout heart, by swimming with 
confidence he got to the edge in safety. And when he 
was come to the bank, having recovered his breath, he 
lifted the lion of stone on his back with all his power and 
might ; and, putting up with a thousand difficulties and 
fatigues, brought himself, at one run, to the summit of 
the mountain. He saw a large city on the other side of 
the mountain, in a sweet atmosphere and on a delightful 
plain. Couplet. — " It was a city like Paradise in goodness ; 
and like the garden of Irani in freshness of look." 

Ghanim, having halted on the top of the hill, was 
looking upon the city, when suddenly a sound proceeded 
with great violence from the lion of stone ; so that the 
mountain and the desert began to shake : and the sound 
having reached the city many men came forth from Tight 
and left, and setting their face towards the mountain 
advanced to Ghanim. Ghanim looked on with the eye of 
amazement, and showed astonishment at the multitude of 
the people ; when suddenly a party of the nobles and 
most illustrious coming up, saluted him w T ith prayers and 
praises, and having seated him, with the utmost deference, 
upon a travelling horse, carried him towards the city. 
Then, having w r ashed his head and body with rose 
water and camphor, they clothed him in royal apparel, 
and, with great reverence and honour, resigned the reins 
of the sovereignty of that country into the hand of his 
sufficiency. Ghanim having questioned them about the 
particulars of this event, received an answer after this 
manner. That philosophers have made a talisman in the 
fountain which thou didst see, and have finished that lion 
of stone with every degree of thought and meditation, 
with observation of the rising of the degrees, and the 
aspects of the fixed stars and the planets : and at whatever 
time it shall occur to the mind of any gentleman that 
aving passed the fountain and taken up the lion he 



29 

ascends to the top of the hill, no doubt this event will 
come to pass at that time when death shall have over- 
taken the king of this city. Then the lion roars, and the 
sound reaching the city, the people come out ; and having 
raised that man to the sovereignty, will pass their days in 
repose under the shade of his justice, until the period 
that his time also shall come to an end. Couplet — " As 
one departs, another comes instead ; they never leave the 
world without some master in the house." And when, by 
divine command, the sun of the life of the lord of this 
country descends below the horizon of death, the star of 
the grandeur of that fortunate person rises over the summit 
of the mountain. And lengthened ages have past that 
this rule has been continued according to the usage 
which has been related : and this day thou art the king of 
this city and the sovereign of this age. Verses. — "The 
kingdom is thine ; command whatsoever thou wilt." So 
Ghanim understood that the endurance of all these diffi- 
culties had been by the dictates of fortune — fortune, 
when she comes for promoting success, does every thing 
just as is fit. 

Now I have introduced this instance, for this, that 
thou mayest know that the draught of luxury and en- 
joyment is not without the sting of vexation and trouble : 
to whomsoever the passion for greatness shall arise, he 
will never be trodden down by the base ; and will never 
be content with a low state and base condition. And I, 
whilst I do not attain the rank of nearness to the lion, 
and do not become inserted in the company of those 
attached to his presence, will not lay my head upon the 
pillow of rest, nor extend my feet on the bed of repose. 
Kalilah said, from whence hast thou got the key of 
this gate into thy grasp ; and how hast thou formed the 
notion of entering upon this great object ? Damanah 
said, I intend, on this occasion, when alarm and agita- 
tion have found their way to the lion, to throw myself 



38 

before him : it is possible, that by the syrup of the medi- 
cine of my advice some comfort may arise to him ; and 
by that means my place and rank may increase in his 
presence. Kalilah said, how are place and advancement 
with the lion to happen to thee ? Or, if it should be so, 
since thou hast never done service to princes, and dost 
not know the usages and manners of attendance, in a 
little time, all that thou shalt have gained thou wilt give 
from thy hand ; and thou wilt not be able a second time 
to apply a remedy to it. Dam an ah said, when a man 
is wise and able, interference with great affairs has no 
mischief for him : and whoever places reliance on his 
talents, in every affair, that he involves himself in, as is 
the condition, he will acquit himself of his duty. And 
another thing is this ; if fortune should appear, she will 
show the way to whatever is necessary. And in history 
it has come down ; that the sun of the fortune of one of 
the market people having become exalted, he obtained 
the rank of sovereignty ; and an impression and a report 
of him were spread through the world : one of the 
ancient kings wrote a letter to him thus. Thy trade has 
been that of a carpenter ; and thou mayest well know 
carpenter's work. Of whom hast thou learnt the arrange- 
ment of government, and judgment for transacting busi- 
ness. He wrote in answer : He who conferred fortune 
upon me, omitted not any point of instruction in sove- 
reignty. Verses — " When wisdom opens the volume 
of teaching ; that conies forth from me, which is right : 
to whomsoever the candle is lighted by fortune ; he will 
collect all the means of doing well." 

Kalilah said, kings do not make all men of merit 
distinguished by kindness ; but rather give distinction by 
royal favour to those connected with themselves ; and 
who by inheritance and diligence in their service have 
gained some approach : and since thou neither hast any 
hereditary claim upon the lion, nor yet any pretensions by 



31 

service, it is possible that thou may est be excluded from 
his favours ; and it may be a cause of some calamity. 

Damanah said, whoever has obtained a lofty rank, 
in attendance upon the king, it has been in the way 
of gradual advancement ; and promotion has not met 
them, but by their own labour and perseverance, and 
by the effects of the encouragement of the king. Now 
I also desire exactly this ; it is for this that I am seeking ; 
and that I have reconciled it to myself, to bear many 
troubles ; and to taste many unpalatable draughts. And 
I know that whoever attaches himself to the courts of 
princes must follow five things. First, he must extin- 
guish the fire of anger with the water of gentleness. 
Secondly, he must beware of the suggestions of the devil 
of lust. Thirdly, he must not make deceitful avarice, 
and mischievous covetousness triumphant over reason, his 
guide. Fourthly, he must lay the foundation of every 
measure upon truth and moderation. Fifthly, whatever 
accidents or nice points may occur ; let him meet them 
with kindness and good temper. For whoever is endowed 
with these qualities ; doubtless, his wishes shall succeed 
in the happiest manner. Kalilah said, I have supposed 
that thou art got near to the king. By what means art 
thou to become the object of his regard ? By what merit 
art thou to get rank and promotion ? Damanah replied, 
if a close intercourse with his majesty can be managed, I 
will pursue five qualities. First, I will serve in perfect 
sincerity. Secondly, I will build my ambition on obe- 
dience to him. Thirdly, I will represent all his actions 
and words to advantage. Fourthly, when he sets about 
any affair, which is allied to good policy, and in which I 
perceive a benefit to the kingdom ; I will set it in array 
before his eyes and his heart : and I will bring all the 
benefits and advantages of it to his observation : that his 
delight, in the soundness of his judgment, and the cor- 
rectness of his plan, may increase. Fifthly, if he should 



32 

enter upon any matter, which might have a disagreeable 
consequence and an unpleasant conclusion, the injury of 
which will revert to the kingdom, I will represent the evil 
of it in mild language and great gentleness ; and will 
make him aware of the harm of the consequence of it. 
And as soon as the king shall perceive my merits, he will 
distinguish me by his indulgence and favour ; and will 
always be inclined for my society, and fond of my advice : 
for no talent can lie hid ; and no man of merit be without 
a share of the effects of encouragement and support. 
Verses. — " Merit is like musk ; how long shall musk lie 
hid ? The world is suddenly filled w T ith perfume from its 
odour. Go on ; labour in the exercise of thy talent ; for 
by thy virtues the surface of the earth will suddenly be 
filled with rumours." 

Kalilah said, thus it seems, that thy opinion is fixed 
on this ; and thy resolution to carry on this project is 
confirmed. At least, be on thy guard ; for attendance 
upon kings is a matter full dangerous ; a pursuit full dif- 
ficult. Philosophers have said, that on three things no 
one would venture, but some blockhead who had never 
perceived the fragrance of reason : First, the service of a 
prince. Secondly, to taste poison upon an uncertainty. 
Thirdly, to reveal his secrets to women. And the wise 
have compared kings to a lofty mountain : for although 
there may be mines of precious jewels in it, yet upon 
it is also the abode of tigers and snakes and other 
noxious things ; both to ascend it is painful ; and to 
abide upon it is difficult. They have said also, that the 
society of the king is to be compared with the sea ; and 
the merchant who undertakes a voyage by sea, either ac- 
quires great gain ; or gets caught in the whirlpool of 
destruction. Couplet. — " Throughout the ocean, countless 
riches lie ; if thou wouldcst have it, safety is on shore." 

Damanah said, all thou hast observed, is from a 
motive of benevolence : for I know that a king is like a 



33 

blazing lire ; he who is the nearest to it, his danger is the 
greatest. Couplet. — " Keep off from the society of a king ; 
as dry wood from a fierce fire." But yet he who is afraid of 
danger, will never come to the rank of greatness. Couplet. 
— " From danger there arises greatness ; for the profit of 
(ten forty) 400 per cent, the merchant will not pack up, 
if he is afraid of danger." And on three things it is not 
possible to commence, but by loftiness of spirit. The 
public service of a prince : a voyage by sea : and an en- 
counter with enemies : and I do not find myself to be 
mean spirited ; why therefore should I be alarmed about 
an office under the king. Verses. — " Since such is the 
arm of my spirit ; whatever I may pursue, is in my sleeve. 
Dost thou desire nobility and grandeur : go on labouring 
with all the spirit that thou hast : in short ; to whatever 
thou mayest lay thy hand, if thy spirit be strong, thou 
wilt succeed." 

Kalllah said, although I am opposed to this plan, and 
am dissatisfied with this resolution ; yet since thy judg- 
ment has so much confidence in this affair, and thy mind 
has such reliance on this notion ; may it be fortunate : 
behold thy direct road ; go on happily in peace. 

Damanah departed ; and made his obeisance to the 
lion. The lion asked what person that was. They said, 
the son of such a one, who, for a long time was an 
attendant upon the royal court. The lion said ; true, 
I recollect him, so he called him forward and said, 
where dost thou live ? Damanah replied ; according to 
the custom of my father, I am now become an attendant 
at this court, resembling the firmament ; and have made 
it the shrine of my wants, the temple of my wishes : and 
I wait in hopes, that, if any weighty matter should fall out, 
I may provide for it by my sagacity, and may enter upon it 
with a clear understanding. For as there is need of the 
pillars of the state and the chief nobles of the presence, in 
the fulfilment of many important affairs, it is possible 



that, at the courts of princes, a matter may occur, which 
may be accomplished by those of low degree : in this path, 
like the peacock, the fly also is of use : the work which 
is produced by a weak needle ; the spear, tossing up its 
head is unequal to the management of it ; and the design 
which an insignificant penknife executes, the sword of 
high temper would be at a loss in it. Nor is any servant, 
though he be of no estimation, and of little worth, devoid 
of use for removing evil, or attaining good ; since even 
that dry stick, which lies in contempt in the foot path, 
has the capacity of, some day, becoming useful ; and if 
it is good for nothing else, perhaps men may make 
a toothpick of it, or may, by means of it, clear their ears 
of foulness. Couplet. — " If a handful of flowers cannot 
be got from me ; I may at least serve for wood for the 
kettle." 

The lion, when he heard the words of Damanah, being 
astonished at his eloquence and rhetoric, turned to his 
grandees, and said : though a wise man should be of no 
reputation, yet his understanding and knowledge will, 
against their will, make his talents conspicuous to the 
nation ; like a flame of fire, which, though he who kindles 
may want to make it turn downwards, will to a certainty 
fly upwards. Couplet. — "Whoever bears the stamp of 
true love to his mistress ; it will be manifest upon his 
forehead." 

Damanah was delighted at these words ; and saw that 
his device had taken effect upon the lion, and that his 
deceit was completely effectual : so he loosened the tongue 
of advice and said : It is incumbent on the whole of the 
personal attendants and servants of state, that, whatever 
may befal the king, they should reflect upon it, according 
to their understanding and knowledge ; and should then 
represent, whatever may occur to the mind of each ; nor 
should they ever desert the path of good advice ; that the 
king may thoroughly know his followers and dependents ; 



35 

and being acquainted with the extent of the judgment, 
the management, the sincerity and discrimination of each, 
may both take advantage of the services of each, and 
also favour every one according to his merits ; for while 
the seed is concealed under the curtain of the earth, no 
man will take the trouble to cultivate it ; but when the 
veil of the earth is withdrawn from its face, and it raises 
its head in a green mantle from the collar of the ground, 
it may be known that it is a fruit-bearing tree, or a 
profitable shrub ; and no doubt they will then cultivate it, 
and derive profit from its fruit. Yet the source, in all 
particular cases, is the encouragement of princes ; to 
whomsoever, among men of talent, they may give 
distinction by a look of favour, from that person they 
will derive benefit in proportion to that encouragement. 
Couplet. — "I am like brambles and dust; thou the sun 
and the cloud : I may yield flowers and tulips, if thou 
dost give fertility." 

The lion said : How ought one to cultivate clever men ; 
and by what means can one enjoy the fruit of them ? 
Damanah replied : The great principle in this business is 
this : that the king should look to worth, not birth ; and 
if any party of incapable people should make use of the 
services of their fathers and ancestors, he should pay no 
regard to it ; for a man should make good his descent by 
his merits, not by his father. Verses, — " Expand thy 
chest for thine own talents ; do not make an ancient 
descent a stock of worth : O thou, insufficient, live not 
by one that is dead ; but do thou keep thy dead alive by 
a good name : do not boast, young man, of a father who 
is no more ; or else thou art a dog, when thou rejoicest 
in bones." 

The mouse, although it be a fellow lodger with men, 
because of the mischief and hurt which comes from it, 
they think it necessary to take pains to destroy it : but 
the hawk, which is wild and strange, since some advantage 

i 






36 

can be anticipated from it, they allure it with the utmost 
kindness ; and bring him up to exercise, with great 
kindness, on the wrist of indulgence. It therefore behoves 
a king, that he should not regard friends and strangers ; 
but rather seek the wise and clever ; and not allow a 
preponderance to those persons, who are negligent in 
business or destitute of talent, over men of genius and of 
perfect skill : for to give the post of the wise to the, unwise, 
is the same as fixing the ornament of the head upon the 
feet, or to hang the apparel of the feet upon the head. 
And in whatever place people of talent remain lost, while 
men of ignorance and folly take the reins of power into 
their hands, the utmost confusion will find its way into 
the affairs of that kingdom ; and the disgrace of that 
circumstance will attach to the fortune of the king and 
the people. Covplet. — " O noble bird, no, never cast thy 
glorious shade across that land where parrots are beneath 
the rooks." 

When Damanah was done with his speech, the king, 
having bestowed the utmost attention upon him, made 
him of the number of the select nobles of his presence, 
and having got a partiality and affection for his conversa- 
tion, he laid the foundation of all his affairs upon his 
counsel and advice. Damanah too, following bright 
reason and sagacity, understanding and penetration, in a 
very short time became the confidant of the secrets of 
government ; and in promoting and improving the affairs 
of the kingdom and the state, he was the man relied upon, 
and referred to. 

One day, having found the time auspicious, and the 
occasion favourable, he sought a private audience, and 
said. It is a long time that the king has remained quiet 
in one place ; and has laid aside the pleasure of exercise, 
and the delight of hunting : I wish that I could tell the 
cause of it, and might discourse upon the point, in every 
form that may be in my power. The lion wished to keep 






37 

the circumstance of his alarm concealed to Damanah. In 
that interval Shanzabah gave a fierce roar ; and his voice 
agitated the lion so much that the reins of self-possession 
fell from his hands : and by force he revealed his secret to 
Damanah, and said : The cause of my terror, is this voice 
that you hear, and I do not know whose voice it may be ; 
but I suppose his force and structure must be suitable to 
his voice : if such should be the fact, it is not good for us 
to remain here. Damanah said : Is there not, besides this 
voice, any other mental occupation to the king? The lion 
said : No. Damanah said : It is not fit for such a matter 
to migrate from your hereditary place, or to depart from 
your beloved birth-place : what respect is there for a 
voice ; what weight to a shout ; that, any one for that 
should move from his place ? A king ought to be, like a 
mountain, stedfast ; so as not to be shaken with every 
wind ; nor to move from his place at every outcry. That 
you may not shake with every wind ; draw your foot under 
your skirt, like a mountain. And the ancients have said 
that attention is not due to every loud voice, nor to every 
powerful body ; for not every outer form gives proof of 
an inward meaning ; nor is every external shape a pattern 
of the mind within : a reed, though ever so thick, may be 
broken by a thin stick ; and a heron, though so huge in 
shape, is unequal to a hawk of delicate make : and who- 
ever makes any account of a large figure, that will happen 
to him which befell the fox. The lion asked how that was. 

Story. 
Damanah said : They have related that a fox was going 
through a plain ; and roaming about on every side in 
quest of food ; he came to a tree, on one side of which 
they had suspended a drum ; and whenever a little wind 
used to blow, a branch of the tree would reach the to] 
the drum, and a shocking noise would arise from it. The 
fox saw a domestic fowl beneath the tree 3 which was 
digging her beak into the ground, and looking for food : 



so lying in wail tor her. lie intruded to make her his 
prey; when, suddenly, the sound of the drum reached his 
ears : he looked, and saw a figure excessively fat, and a 
monstrous voiee was heard; the appetite of the fox being 
excited, he thought to himself that the flesh and the skin 
must certainly be in proportion to the voice ; so he came 
out from where he was lurking for the fowl, and advanced 
to the tree. The fowl, being aware of the circumstance, 
fled ; and the fox, with a hundred exertions, got up the 
tree ; he laboured a long time till he tore the drum ; but 
he found nothing but some skin and a bit of wood. The 
fire of remorse fell upon his head, and tears of shame 
began to pour from his eyes; and be said: Alas ! that for 
the sake of this huge frame which was all wind, the lawful 
prey has escaped from my hands ; and no profit has come 
to me from this unmeaning form. Verses. — " The tabor 
is always in lamentation, but what is the result, since there 
is nothing within ; if thou hast any knowledge, seek for 
the meaning ; be not deluded by the form, for that is 
nothing." 

And I have related this story, in order that the king 
may not relinquish his exercise and his love of hunting 
for a frightful noise or a huge form ; if he will observe 
carefully, no use can come of that voice and figure ; and if 
the king should give orders, I can go close up to it, and 
will explain to the king the meaning of the case, and the 
real nature of the matter. The words of Damanah were 
agreeable to the lion ; and in conformity with the direc- 
tions of the lion he set out towards the sound. But as 
soon as he was got out of the sight of the lion, the lion 
reflected a little, and was ashamed of having sent him, 
and said to himself, I have made a gross mistake ; and 
an act has been done by me, thoughtlessly : the ancients 
have said that a king in revealing his secrets should not 
rely upon ten classes ; and should not communicate to 
them a hint of those private purposes in the concealment 



39 

of which he takes care. First, any one who has suffered 
severity, and vexation at his court, without crime or 
offence ; and the period of whose trouble and distress has 
lasted long. Secondly, he whose wealth and honour have 
gone to the winds in attendance on the king ; and to whom 
the means of subsistence are become narrow. Thirdly, 
he who has been displaced from his office, and who has 
no hopes of again obtaining employment. Fourthly, a 
wicked mischievous man ; who seeks after strife, and has 
no inclination towards security and repose. Fifthly, an 
offender whose friends have experienced the pleasure of 
forgiveness, while he has tasted the bitterness of punish- 
ment. Sixthly, a guilty man, to whose equals some slight 
reproof has been given ; while, in his case, greater excess 
has been shewn. Seventhly, he who does acceptable 
service, and remains disappointed ; while others, without 
any previous claims of service, meet with greater encou- 
ragement than he does. Eighthly, he, whose rank some 
enemy has sought after, and has taken the lead of him, 
and has attained to that station ; and the prince has be- 
come confidential with him. Ninthly, he who anticipates 
any advantage to himself, in an injury to the king. 
Tenthly, he who has met with no favour at the court of 
the king ; and who can make himself acceptable with the 
enemy of the king. It behoves kings that they should 
never communicate their secrets to these ten classes. And 
the principle is this, that till they have often tried the 
religion, integrity, the generosity and nobleness of any 
one, they should not make him master of the knowledge 
of their secrets. Couplet. — " Disclose not thy secrets to 
every one : for in this ball of earth we have wandered 
much ; a safe confidant for secrets was not to be found." 
And therefore, in obedience to these premises, before 
making any experiment of Damanah, to make such haste 
was not suitable; and to send him to my enemy seemed 
very far from the course of deep thinking prudence : for 



40 

this Damanah seems a shrewd person, and he has heen 
for a long time vexed and disappointed at my eourt. If, 
God protect us ! any thorn of displeasure should he rank- 
ling hi his heart, he may on this occasion contrive some 
perfidy, or excite some contention ; or it may he that he 
may find my enemy superior to me in strength and pomp; 
and feeling a preference for his service, he may make him 
acquainted with whatever he is acquainted with of my 
secrets ; and most certainly, to make amends, for that 
would be beyond the point of my management. Why 
did I not act up to the purport of the saying ; Circum- 
spection is (to have) a bad opinion : why did I deviate 
from the meaning of this couplet of the philosopher. " Be 
not of a bad temper ; but be of a bad opinion ; and then be 
in safety from strife and deceit." If any calamity should 
be coupled with this embassy, I am deserving of a hundred 
times as much. In this course of thought, with great 
agitation, he was getting up, and sitting down ; and fixed 
his eyes in expectation on the road ; when all at once 
Damanah appeared. The lion was a little quieted ; and 
rested in his place. As soon as Damanah arrived, he 
said, after paying due homage, as long as the sphere 
shall revolve, may our king be permanent ; may the sun 
of his fortune be shining over the heads of his servants. 
O prince, ruling the world, he whose voice reached the 
august hearing is an ox, engaged in grazing in the 
environs of this forest ; and who has nothing else to do 
but to eat and to sleep ; and his ambition does not extend 
beyond his throat and his belly. The lion said : What is 
the extent of his power ? Damanah replied : I did not 
observe any dignity or magnificence about him, which I 
could take as a proof of his power : and I did not find in 
my own mind any awe of him, that I should reckon any 
great reverence due to him. The lion said you must not 
set him down for debility; nor he deceived by that; for a 
violent wind, though it does not beat down the tender grass, 



41 

will tear up strong trees from the roots ; and princes and 
nobles, as long as they do not find an enemy their match, 
the manifestation of their strength and importance does 
not come into display. When will a hawk shew any 
eagerness in pursuit of a chaffinch ? A falcon will not 
open his claws to hunt a gnat. 

Damanah said : The king should not give so much 
weight to his conduct ; nor make so much account of the 
thought of him ; for I, with great penetration, have found 
out his business, and am informed of the nature of his 
condition : if superior sense should dictate, and the august 
command should receive the honour of promulgation, I 
will bring him ; that, laying the head of attention on the 
line of obedience, he may cast the saddle-cloth of servitude 
on the shoulder of attachment. 

The lion was delighted at these words ; and made signs 
for bringing him. So Damanah w r ent up to Shanzabah, 
and with a stout heart, without any thought or hesitation, 
joined in conversation. At the first moment he said to 
him : — whence art thou, and how didst thou fall into this 
place ; what was the cause of thy coming to this abode ; 
and forming the scheme of residing here ? Shanzabah 
began to detail the circumstances of the case, according to 
the truth. Damanah, having become acquainted with his 
history, said : A lion, who is the king of beasts, and the 
sovereign of these borders, has given orders, and sent me, 
that I should take you before him ; and in like manner 
has given orders that, if you make haste, he will pass over 
the defect, which has till this moment appeared, in dutiful 
attention ; but if you delay, I will instantly go back and 
set forth the form of the occurrence. Shanzabah, when 
he heard the name of lion and beasts, w T as frightened, and 
said : If you will make me strong hearted, and safe from 
his punishment, I will come with thee ; and by means of 
thy keeping me company will have the honour of paying 
my duty to him. 



42 

Damanah repeated an oath to him ; and brought 
forward such a promise and engagement, that some 
tranquillity might thereby grow up in his mind; and they 
both turned their faces towards the lion. Damanah went 
before and gave the lion notice of his approach; and a short 
time after the ox arrived, and performed the ceremony of 
homage. The lion addressed him with warmth and said: 
When didst thou come to this neighbourhood ; and what 
was the motive for coming ? The ox related his history, to 
the full. The lion replied : Then still remain here ; that 
thou mayest obtain a full share of our kindness, condescen- 
sion, gentleness, and bounty ; for we have opened the 
gates of favour to the faces of all who attach themselves 
to our country, and have spread the overflowing table of 
regard before all the attendants on our threshold. Verses — 
"If through these realms vou wander far ; of us in lamen- 
tation you'll not find a man : at first, in any matter 
that we make our aim ; regard unto the welfare of the 
lowest class we pay.'' The ox having set forth the pre- 
scribed form of prayer and praise, bound the girdle of 
service, in cheerfulness and alacrity, round his loins. And 
the lion, too, having bestowed on him a place of near 
access, brought him day by day nearer to his person ; and 
used to shew great force and length of speech, in doing 
him honour and respect : in the course of which, having 
turned his mind to the examination of his character and 
the investigation of his conduct, he perceived the measure 
of his judgment and prudence, and the extent of his 
discrimination and experience ; he found him to be a 
person famous for perfection of sagacity, and endowed witli 
understanding and penetration ; and the more he tried his 
moral qualities the greater became his confidence in the 
abundance of his knowledge. Verses — " He found him 
excellent in disposition, clear in judgment ; a weigher 
of words, and estimating the value of men ; one who 
had seen the world, and collected knowledge; who had 



43 

travelled much and profited by society. So the lion, after 
meditation and counsel, deliberation and seeking for guid- 
ance, made the ox the confidant of his secrets ; and every 
hour, his place in favour and advancement became more 
noble ; and his rank in the exercise of authority, and the 
issuing of commands, more elevated ; till he surpassed the 
whole body of the pillars of the state, and the chief nobles 
of the presence. 

When Damanah perceived that the lion carried his 
reverence for the ox to the last verge of excess ; and that 
having pushed the exaggeration of bounty and respect to 
him beyond the limits of moderation, he sets no impor- 
tance upon his words, nor takes advice with him in any 
project — the hand of envy drew the ointment of disgust 
across the eye of his heart ; and the fire of anger cast a 
blaze of jealousy into the cell of his brain. Couplet.— 
" Envy, wherever it kindles a fire — from the very first, it 
burns the envious themselves." Sleep and rest departed 
from him ; tranquility and repose removed their furniture 
from the area of his bosom. He went with his complaint 
to Kalilah, and said, My brother ; behold the weakness of 
my judgment, and the infirmity of my contrivance : I had 
built all my projects upon the carelessness of the lion, and 
introduced the ox to his service ; till having found access 
and dignity, he has surpassed all the courtiers ; and I am 
fallen from my own place and station. Kalilah replied : 
My life ! thou hast done it thyself ; what remedy is there 
for an act of thine own ? thou hast thyself struck this axe 
on thine own foot ; this dust of mischief thou hast thyself 
stirred up in thine own path : and the same thing has 
befallen thee, which happened to the devotee. Damanah 
asked how that was. 

Story. 

Kalilah said. They have related that a king gave splen- 
did apparel, and a costly dress to a devotee. A thief, 
having got intelligence of the circumstance, fixed his 



44 

affections on it ; and having, upon pretence of attachment, 
got about the devotee, shewed a fondness for his service : 
and used to evince much perseverance in acquiring the 
practices of the right road ; till he became in this way his 
confidential friend ; and one night, having found an op- 
portunity, he purloined the dress and walked oft*. On the 
following day, the devotee could not find the clothes, and 
missed his new disciple ; and knew that he had taken 
away the dress. He set off for the city in pursuit of him ; 
and by the way saw that two wild beasts were fighting 
together, and wounding each other's heads ; and while 
these two sharp-clawed enemies, like two destructive lions, 
were in conflict with each other, and the blood was trick- 
ling from the limbs and members of both, a fox had come 
up and was devouring their blood. On a sudden, in the 
midst of their butting, the fox got between them, and their 
heads came violently on each side against his ribs ; and 
he was cauirht in the snare of destruction. The devotee 
having a fresh piece of experience from this event > passed 
on ; and at night when he reached the city, the gates were 
locked. He wandered about in every direction, and looked 
for some place for a halt ; by chance a woman was look- 
ing into the street from the terrace of her house ; she 
perceived from the wandering manner of the devotee that 
he was a foreigner ; and invited him to her own home. 
The devotee having agreed, untied his sandals in her 
lodging, and betook himself to his prayers in a corner of 
that hut. Now the woman was well known for vice and 
profligacy ; and used to keep a number of girls ready for 
gross and dissolute behaviour ; and a strong affection had 
grown up in one of them (a glance of whose beauty might 
have taught the brides of paradise the art of shining ; and 
from the glow of her cheeks, the sun giving warmth to 
the earth, would have burnt in the flame of jealousy ; her 
wanton eye, with the arrow of a glance, would have torn 
the target of the bosom, like the breast of a target ; and 



45 

her life bestowing lips, with the sweetness of her month, 
would bestow on the palate of the heart lusciousness, like 
a bale of sugar. Couplet. — "A moon, walking in majesty; 
a lofty cypress : two ringlets from her temples, entwined ; 
like a noose made of musk :" — from her silver chin a ball 
arose, upon which a collar of double chin was suspended ; 
with that collar and that ball, that idol, seeking love, had 
robbed the moon of her glory, and taken the ball from 
the sun,) for a youth, fair in face, musk-haired, witty in 
speech, a tall cypress, a silver moon 3 sweet in tongue, 
slender in the waist ; so that the proud beauties of Tartary 
were like a hyacinth, full of writing and disorder, for the 
curls of his ringlets; and the honey-lipped maidens of 
Samarcand, in love for his strife-exciting sweetness, were 
like the hearts of lovers, in agitation. Couplet. — " A face ! 
Oh what a face ! a face like to the sun ; ringlets ! what 
ringlets ! each curl was madness and distress." They 
constantly passed their time together, like the sun and the 
moon in the same mansion ; and were united, like Venus 
and Mercury in the same sign of the Zodiac ; and the 
youth, from the jealousy of his love, would positively 
never allow that his companions should drink a single 
draught from the goblet of union with that damsel ; nor 
that the thirsty travellers, through the deserts of pursuit, 
after all their sufferings, should reach that sweet fountain. 
Couplet. — " My jealousy of thee is such, that if it were in 
my power ; I would not allow that thou shouldest enter 
into bonds with others." The profligate woman, being 
vexed with this behaviour of the girl ; and being unable 
to bear the loss of income ; could not put up with a girl 
who had thrown aside the veil of modesty ; and thus ex- 
posed the very life of the affection of lovers. In despair, 
she resolved upon the destruction of the youth ; and the 
same night the devotee came to her house, having made 
her plan and watched her opportunity : and having 
measured out heavy draughts both to the lover and his 



46 

mistress ; as soon as all the people of the house were gone 
to rest, having put a little deadly poison, pounded, into a 
pipe, and placed it before the nose of the youth ; taking 
one end of the pipe into her own mouth, and applying 
the other end to his nostril ; she meant to give it a puff 
and send the effects of the poison to the brain of the young 
man : when all at once he sneezed ; and by the violence 
of the vapour which burst from his brain, all the poison 
went down the woman's throat and gullet, and she fell 
dead on the spot. Even in the thought of that thou shalt 
go which thou bcarest in mind. 

The devotee, when he had witnessed this occurrence, 
and with a hundred anxieties, had brought to day that 
night, which in tediousness was like the day of resurrec- 
tion ; till the time that the devotee of the dawn, escaping 
from the cell of the darkness of the night, spread the car- 
pet of reverence before the shrine of the horizon ; and the 
sense of this text, high in distinction " and he will send 
them forth from darkness into light" was become clear to 
the inhabitants of the earth. Couplet. — " The vault, like 
a mirror in colour, received splendour ; the mirror of 
China got clear of rust." The devotee having extricated 
himself from the abode of the darkness of the profligacy and 
sensuality of that gang, looked out for another lodging. 

A shoemaker, who used to reckon himself among his 
disciples, took him to his house, as a means of obtaining 
a blessing ; and gave injunctions to his family to take care 
of him : but went himself to a feast of some of his friends. 
Now his wife had a lover, of a cheerful temper, beautiful 
face, and curling locks. Couplet. — " Facetious, alluring, 
saucy-eyed and throwing glances ; a handsome man, who 
should be like him, would be a calamity to life." The 
messenger between them was a barber's wife, who by her 
witchcraft would mix water and lire together ; and by the 
smoothness of her tongue would make a stone quarry 
seem like melted wax. [ r er$es. — " A contriver of 



47 

stratagems, who, in deceit, would repeat some verse, 
which would unite the gnat with the phcenix — a crystal 
rosary she had for use ; but for a string a pagan's thread 
she took : her lip in prayer, and all her prayer was magic 
and a trick; without plain garments ; and within all paint." 
The shoemaker's wife, as soon as she found the house 
clear, sent some one to her messenger to say, give the 
news to my beloved, that to night there is honey without 
the buzzing of the bee, and a party free from the clamour 
of the watchman and police. Arise and come to me ; as 
I have learnt, and thou. So her lover coming by night 
to the house, was waiting for the door to be opened ; 
when, all at once the shoemaker returned, like an unex- 
pected calamity ; and found the man at the door of his 
house. The fact being that he had already taken up a 
little fancy ; and that some suspicion had fallen into his 
mind, about the designs of his wife, and her lover ; upon 
this occasion, when he found him at the door of the house, 
the side of conviction having predominated, he entered 
the house, and in great anger, began to beat his wife ; 
and when he had applied the full chastisement, he tied 
her fast to a pillar, and laid his head on the bed of repose. 
The devotee was thinking thus , — without any apparent 
cause, or clear offence, to beat this woman was from the 
course of manly feeling, — it would have been proper that 
I should have interceded, and not to have been consenting 
to this folly ; when suddenly the barber's wife came in, 
and said, My sister ; why dost thou keep this young 
man waiting so long ; walk quickly forth, and count the 
season of enjoyment great gain. Couplet. — " If to a 
lover, there is a thought of asking for one sick with pain ; 
come on joyfully for still there is a little breath in him." 
The shoemaker's wife called her close to her, in a melan- 
choly voice and said. Verses. — " O tranquil in mind, how 
canst thou understand the state of an afflicted heart — how 
canst thou know the sufferings of lovers,of wounded hearts; 



48 

O dove, taking thy flight over the head of the cypress — 
how canst thou know the grief of heart of captive birds ?" 
My kind, kind friend ! listen to the complaint of my 
distress, and attend to my sad condition : this cruel 
merciless husband has perhaps seen him at the door ; for 
he came into the house like a madman, and after he had 
beaten me severely, tied me with great violence to this 
pillar : if thou hast any love towards me, and art in the 
place of pity to my friend, unbind me quickly, and give 
me leave that I may tie thee in exchange for myself to 
this pillar : and having quickly made an apology to my 
friend I will come back and unloose thee. And by this 
act thou wilt make me pledged to gratitude ; and thou 
wilt also lay my lover under obligation. The barber's 
wife, from excess of kindness, having yielded herself for 
the unloosing of the other and the tying up of herself, 
sent her out. 

A clue to the quarrel of the husband and wife fell into 
the grasp of the devout man, on hearing these words. 
And in the meantime the shoemaker, waking, called out 
to his wife ; but the barber's wife, for fear he should know 
her voice, and get intelligence of the matter had not the 
power to give an answer. Though the shoemaker 
screamed ; not a breath was perceived from the barber's 
wife : so the fire of his rage bursting into a flame he took 
up a heel-knife and coming to the pillar cut off her nose 
and laid it in her hand, saying, Lo ! a present, that thou 
mayest send to thy lover. The barber's wife did not, 
from fear, utter a sigh, but said to herself, here is a 
wonderful state of things — one takes the pleasure ; and 
another bears the pain. 

When the shoemaker's wife came back, and found her 
whom she called a sister, with her nose cut off, she was 
excessively distressed; and often begging pardon, she 
released her, and tied herself to the pillar; and the barber's 
wife set off home, with her nose in her hand, terse. — 



49 

" In her astonishment, one moment she would laugh, and 
the next moment weep." The devotee had been observing 
and listening to all these occurrences ; and surprise was 
added to surprise, at all the strange things which came 
forth from behind the curtain of secrecy. 

The shoemaker's wife was quiet for a little while ; and 
then, with cunning and deceit, spreading her hands in 
prayer, she said, O Lord and king! thou knowest how 
my husband has done me violence ; and by calumny and 
falsehood, has bound upon my neck a crime which was 
never committed by me. Of thy goodness, take pity, and 
restore my nose, the ornament of the page of beauty. 
Daring the prayers of the woman, the man was awake ; 
and listened to her deceitful complaint, and mischievous 
prayer : so he roared out. Worthless and of corrupt 
life! what prayer is this thou makest; what desire for thee 
to have ! The prayers of the profligate are of no worth 
at this court ; the desires of the vicious find no quality of 
fitness along this road. Couplet. — " If thou hast a hope 
that any matter should be made easy, from secret meafis ; 
a pure tongue, and a pure heart are both necessary." Then 
the woman on a sudden shouted out, Oppressor and tor- 
menter; get up, that thou maycst behold the divine power 
and infinite bounty : for since my mantle was pure from 
the stain of this aspersion, the Almighty has healed my 
mutilated nose ; and has delivered me from ignominy and 
disgrace among mankind. The simple-hearted man arose; 
and when he had lighted a lamp, approached and found 
his wife safe, and her nose in the right place ; nor could 
he any where find any trace of a wound or hurt. He 
instantly acknowledged his fault; began to make apologies ; 
with the utmost tenderness begging pardon, removed the 
bonds from her hands and feet; and made a vow, that he 
would never proceed in a similar manner, before some 
clearness of proof, some manifestation of argument ; that 
he would not vex his pious wife, his chaste spouse, upon 



50 

the word of every mischief-making baek-biter ; and that 
for the rest of his life he would never depart from obedi- 
ence to such a woman, veiled in virtue, and against whose 
prayers there was certainly no curtain. 

While, on the other hand, the barber's wife, with her 
nose cut off, and carried in her hand, came home ; but 
horror overwhelmed her: for, what plan could she devise; 
how was she to reveal this event to her husband ; what 
excuse could she make to her friends and neighbours on 
this subject ; what sort of answer should she give to the 
questions of her relations and friends. In the meanwhile 
the barber awaked, and called to his wife thus : Give me 
my instruments ; for I am going to a certain gentleman's 
house. The woman was very long in answering; and 
having delayed to give him the things, at last put the razor 
only into the artist's hand. The barber, in a rage, flung 
the razor, in the darkness of night, towards his wife; and 
began to utter abusive words ; but the woman threw her- 
self down, and began to scream, My nose ; my nose ! 
The barber was confounded ; and their friends and neigh- 
bours coming in, found the woman, with her garments 
stained with blood, and her nose cut off. So they let 
loose the tongue of reproach against the master ; and he, 
poor fellow, being left confused, had neither the face to 
confess it, nor the tongue to deny. 

However, when dawn, giving light to the world, cast 
away the veil of darkness ; when the world-displaying 
mirror of the sun, began to sparkle like a goblet of Jams- 
bed. Couplet. — " The leader of the forces of the east 
raised his standard ; the king of the west was drowned in 
a sea of blood." The relations of the woman having met 
together, carried the barber before the Kazi. By chance, the 
devotee had left the shoemaker's house; and because of an 
old bond of attachment which there was between him and 
the Kazl, was present in the court. They fulfilled the 
usual form of interrogatory; and when the kinsfolk of the 



51 

barber's wife presented their case, the Kazi put this ques- 
tion : Master barber, how could you think fit to make an 
example of this female, without any apparent crime, or 
legal cause ? The barber was astounded, and unable to 
set up any pretence : and the Kazi, under this decisive 
text, " and wounds, retaliation :" passed sentence of re- 
taliation and punishment. 

The devotee arose and said, O Kazi, in this matter, 
some deliberation must be made ; and the eyes of sagacity 
must be opened. For the thief did not carry off my coat; 
the wild beasts did not kill the fox ; the poison did not 
destroy the profligate woman ; the shoemaker did not cut 
off the nose of the barber's wife: but rather we have drawn 
down all these evils upon ourselves. The Kazi restrained 
his hand from the barber, and looked at the devotee, 
saying : Give some interpretation of this summary ; some 
explanation of your meaning. So the devotee related all 
that he had heard and seen, from first to last, and said. If 
I had not had a desire to take a pupil, and had not been 
beguiled by the agreeableness of the thief, that deceitful 
impostor could not have found the opportunity; and would 
not have taken away my garment. If the fox had not 
gone beyond bounds in greediness and baseness, nor shown 
such excess in blood-thirstiness, the injury of the beasts 
had not reached him. If the wicked woman had not 
formed the design of destroying the unsuspicious youth, 
she had not thrown her own sweet life to the winds. And 
if the barber's wife had not given her assistance in that 
unlawful action, she had not become an example, nor been 
made a disgrace. He who does evil, must not look for 
good : and he who expects sugar canes, must not sow the 
seeds of the colocynth. Couplet. — " Thus spake a learned 
teacher : do not evil, or thou wilt meet with evil from 
fortune." 

And I have produced this instance, that thou mayest 
know, that thou hast thyself shown this path of difficulty 

H 



52 

to thyself, and hast thyself opened this gate of sorrow and 
labour to thyself. Verse. — " After all, of whom can we 
complain ; of ourselves is all that is upon us." 

Damanah said, Thou sayest truly ; I did the thing 
myself. And yet what scheme dost thou form for my 
deliverance ; and in what manner dost thou view the plan 
for untying this knot. Kalilah said, From the first 
moment I did not agree with thee in this proceeding, nor 
did I coincide with thy words in undertaking this business. 
And now also, I find myself far from the matter, nor do 
I see any reason for involving myself in it. Perhaps thou 
wilt thyself think of some plan in thy own behalf ; as they 
have said. Verse. — " Every man best understands what 
is for his own good." 

Damanah replied, I have been thinking that I will set 
about this business, with the finest stratagems ; and will 
labour, by every means that may be possible, till I throw 
down the ox from this position ; and even drive him out 
of the country ; for I cannot permit of delay or negligence 
in the duty of self-preservation ; and if I commit the least 
carelessness, I shall not be acquitted in the opinion of men 
of prudence and manly spirit. Nor do I seek any new 
advancement ; nor pretend to any thing beyond my ser- 
vices. And our forefathers have said, that the wise are 
justified, when they labour for these five purposes. First, 
In seeking that rank and station which they may have 
formerly held. Second, In avoiding the hurt of that which 
may have come by experience. Third, In preserving that 
advantage which they possess. Fourth, In extricating 
themselves from the labyrinth of any calamity which may 
be impending. Fifth, In watching the attainment of 
.good, or the averting of evil, in time to come. And I 
apply my exertions to this ; that I may again attain to my 
own place ; and that the lustre of my condition may 
be fresh : And this is the path ; that I should pursue the 
ox with stratagems ; until he bid farewell to the back of 



53 

the earth ; or pack up his things from this place. Nor 
am I less than that weak sparrow, which obtained his 
revenge of the falcon. Kalilah asked how that was. 

Damanah said. I have heard that two sparrows had 
fixed their nest upon the branch of a tree, and of all 
worldly possessions were content with water and grain. 
And at the top of the mountain, at the foot of which that 
tree had lighted, a hawk had his abode; who at the time 
of pursuing his prey would dart out from a corner like 
lightning, and like a thunderbolt would burn clean up the 
barns of life of the birds, more feeble in wing. Couplet. 
— u At the moment when he would open his talons upon 
the birds — if there should be fifty, he would carry them off." 

Whenever the sparrows produced young, and it came 
near to that time, when they should take to flight, that 
hawk, darting out from ambuscade, having carried off 
their young, would make them a meal for his own young 
ones. 

Now to migrate from that place was intolerable to the 
sparrows, according to " love of home is a part of faith ;" 
and yet, because of the tyranny of the hawk, pursuing 
cruelly, the power of living there was difficult. Kerse. — 
" Neither any view to travel, nor any mind to stay." 

On one occasion, their young ones having got strength, 
and having put forth feathers and wings, were making a 
little movement; and the father and mother growing 
pleased at the sight of their children, were testifying joy 
at their exertions for flight. On a sudden, the thought of 
the hawk passed over their mind; and all at once, folding 
up the carpet of delight, in agitation and uneasiness, they 
began lamentation and weeping. One of their children, 
in whose forehead the marks of truth and maturity were 
apparent, enquired into the circumstances of the case, and 
the cause of the change from joy to sorrow. They said. 
O son! Couplet. — "Ask us not to what extent is the fire 
of our hearts; ask of the tear, that is our interpreter. ,, 



54 

Then they related in detail, the story of the tyranny of the 
hawk, and the carrying away of their children. The son 
said. To turn the neck away from the command of fate 
and the order of destiny, is not the way of servants: yet 
the causer of causes has appointed a medicine for every 
pain: and has sent a cure for every illness : it is possihle 
that if ye shall fulfil in the repulse of this calamity, exertion 
shall raise your foot in untying this knot, — hoth this 
evil shall be averted from our head, and also this burthen 
shall depart from off your hearts. These words were 
agreeable to the sparrows: so one of them waited to attend 
to the condition of the young, and another took flight in 
search of relief. 

When he had flown a little way, he fell into the con- 
sideration of this, viz. — Ah! whither shall I go; and to 
whom shall I tell the anguish of my heart? Couplet. 
— "I am entangled in the pains of my heart; I know 
not the medicine for my heart ; the remedy for the 
pains of the heart is a matter very difficult; I do not 
understand it." At last, he turned in his mind thus — 
Any animal, upon whom my sight may first fall, I will fix 
my conversation with him, and will seek from him a cure 
for the pain of my heart. By chance, a salamander, 
having come forth from the mine of fire, was taking a 
little turn in the open space of the desert; and the eyes of 
the sparrow fell upon him : and that strange figure and 
surprising form came into his view. He said with 
himself, I have fallen upon good: come on; while I com- 
municate to this wonderful bird the grief of my heart: 
perhaps he may loosen the knot from my affairs; and 
shew me the way to relief. Then with great reverence he 
approached the salamander, and after the prescribed forms 
of good wishes, observed the usages of duty. The sala- 
mander, too, in the language of attention to strangers, set 
forth the duties of courtesy to travellers, and said. The 
traces of grief are to be observed in thy countenance ; if 



55 

it be from the fatigue of the road, rest a few days in this 
neighbourhood, that it may be changed by repose: and if 
any other particular case exists, explain it, that pains may 
be taken, to the extent of my powers, in providing for 
that. The sparrow loosened his tongue, and unfolded 
before the salamander his melancholy state in such a 
manner, that if he had been telling it to the marble rock, 
it must have split in pieces at the anguish of his heart. 
Couplet. — fC To whatever person I may give an explanation 
of my story — I place a hundred fresh scars upon the heart 
of that helpless person." The fire of compassion began 
to blaze in the salamander, after hearing these words ; 
and he said. Do not grieve ; for I will avert this evil 
from thy head ; and this night I will so manage, that I 
will burn his house and nest and all that is in it: do thou 
give me the marks of thine own dwelling, and go to the 
care of thy children, till the time that I shall come unto 
thee. The sparrow set forth the marks of his abode, in 
such a manner that no doubt could remain to the sala- 
mander: and with a joyful heart, and a mind relieved from 
a load of grief, set his face towards his nest. When the 
night came on, the salamander, with a party of the sons 
of his own race, each having taken up a piece of naphtha 
and brimstone, set out for that abode ; and by the guid- 
ance of the sparrow betook themselves to the vicinity of 
the hawk's nest. Now the hawk, with his children, 
thoughtless of such a calamity, had eaten plentifully, and 
were gone to sleep. The salamanders, having scattered 
all the naphtha and brimstone which they had with them, 
over their nest, turned back: and the wind of divine 
justice having blown, the flame of wrath fell upon the nest 
of that oppressor. They rose up from the sleep of negli- 
gence, at a time when the hand of remedy was unequal to 
the extinction of that flame ; and the whole of them, at 
once, with home and nest, became ashes. Couplet. — 



56 

" A tyrant, by violence, kindled a fire once ; when it 
threw up a blaze, it first burnt even him." 

Now I have told this story, that thou mayest know that 
every person who labours in the repulse of an enemy, 
although he be small and weak, and the enemy great and 
powerful, there is hope of aid and victory. 

Kalllah said. Now that the lion has given him dis- 
tinction from among the rest, and has exalted the banner 
of his fortune, to pluck out attachment to him, from the 
heart of the lion, and to change the disposition of the lion 
towards him, seems extremely difficult : for kings, when 
they cherish any one, do not disgrace him without some 
thorough reason ; and whomsoever they raise up, they do 
not cast down from their regard, unless some great affedr 
should occur. Couplet. — " The water will not carry down 
the wood ; what is the reason ? it would be ashamed, to 
bear down that which is nourished by itself." Damanah 
said. What cause can be more complete than this, that 
the king has shewn an excess in cherishing him, and in- 
dulged contempt for his other counsellors, till, of course 
they have become disgusted with his service ; and tin 
benefits of their duty, and the advantages of their advice, 
have been cut off from him : and from this state of things 
great calamities are to be anticipated. For philosophers 
have said, that danger to a king and misfortune to a 
country may be by one of six things. First, — Alienation : 
that is to say, making well-wishers disappointed with 
himself, and abandoning people of judgment and expe- 
rience in disgrace. Second, — Strife : which is such, that 
wars without object, and inconsiderate undertakings take 
place, and the swords of opponents are drawn from the 
scabbard. Third, — Pleasure : and that is the being attached 
to women; having a fondness for hunting; being engaged 
in wine ; and having an inclination for play and amuse- 
ment. Fourth, — The enmity of fortune : and that is some 
event, which occurs in time ; as pestilence, famine, earth- 



57 

quakes, burnings, inundations, and the like. Fifth, — 
Violence of temper; which is excess in exercising anger: 
and to go to an extreme in punishment and chastisement. 
Sixth, — Ignorance : which is such, that in a fit time for 
peace he is disposed to war; and in a fit occasion for war 
he shews an inclination for peace ; and in the time for 
gentleness he chooses contention ; and when he ought to 
close up the rampart of anger, he sets open the gate of 
kindness. Couplet. — " War and peace, out of season, do 
not come to any use: in the place for flowers, be flowers; 
and in the place for thorns, thorns." 

Kalilah said. I have perceived that thou hast bound 
up the loins for revenge ; and art seated in ambush for 
Shanzabah ; and thou desirest that by thy intervention 
some evil may happen to him. But I know that to inflict 
injury has no good consequence ; and that, in the way of 
retribution, the mischief of every man turns back upon 
him. Couplet. — " Whoever did evil, saw nothing but 
evil : the mischief of it soon came upon him." For who- 
ever will open the eyes of experience, and will observe the 
retribution of evil and good, there is doubt but he will 
hold to the side of goodness and gentleness ; and will 
preserve his hand and tongue from vexation and injury : 
as the king, the dispenser of justice, remarked. 

Kalilah said. I have heard that in former times there 
was a king who had spread out the hand of violence and 
aggression, and had put forth the foot of perversencss from, 
the path of justice and liberality. Couplet. — " World- 
burner ; merciless ; displaying pride ; by his bitterness 
the face of a world sour." The people night and day, 
had lifted up their hands in prayer against his injustice ; 
and had loosened the tongue of hatred. One day, 
this king went to the chase, and when he came back, lie 
ordered a proclamation, thus — O men! the eye of my 
heart has been veiled till this day, from the sight of the 
face of rectitude; and the hand of inv sin hath drawn the 



58 

sword of cruelty in the face of the disappointed, suffering 
violence, and of the oppressed, come to trouble. Now, I 
am become sincere in the post of protecting the people, 
and stedfast in the office of extending justice. There is 
a hope of this, that after this day, the hand of any tyrant 
shall not strike the ring of vexation on the door of the 
house of any peasant ; and that the foot of any dealer in 
violence shall not reach the court of the dwelling of any 
poor man. Couplet. — " Do not expect ease in that border 
and land ; where thou seest the people heart-light with 
the king." A new life burst forth to the people at this 
news; and at these tidings, the flower of desire blossomed 
to the poor in the garden of hope. Couplet. — "At these 
blessed tidings which came suddenly, a glad message came 
to the heart and a joyful sound to the soul." 

To the Story. The happy influence of his justice came 
to such a point that the lamb would drink milk from the 
dugs of the fierce lion ; and the pheasant was a play-fellow 
with the hawk, on common ground ; and on this account 
they gave him the title, The king, doing justice. Couplet. 
— " He made the foundations of equity so firm, that fire 
became a watchman to sulphur." 

One of the familiar confidential men of the government, 
in a moment of opportunity, put a question about the 
particulars of the case, and sought an explanation of the 
change of the bitterness of force and cruelty for the gentle- 
ness of favour and duty. The king replied thus : The day 
that I went a hunting. I was galloping on every side: on 
a sudden I saw that a dog ran in pursuit of a fox, and 
with his teeth bit through the bone of his leg ; the help- 
less fox, with his lame leg fled away into a hole; and the 
dog turned back : at that moment a footman flung a 
stone and broke the leg of that dog ; as yet, he had not 
gone many steps, when a horse kicked the footman, and 
his leg was broken; and the horse, too, not having cleared 
a bit of the way, his foot went down into a hole and broke. 



59 

I came to myself, and said, hast thou seen what they did 
and what they suffered? whoever does what he ought not, 
feels what he would not. Verses. — " Find out good; do 
not evil ; he ware : for thou shalt again meet with evil and 
good; if in all places thou art disposed to goodness, thou 
shalt find thyself exalted; but, if thou go in the path of 
evil, thou shalt behold thyself trampled under the foot of 
want." 

Now I have hit off this fable, that thou shouldest 
reflect upon retribution ; and depart from the ground of 
malevolence: may it not be, that the ignominy of it 
should reach to thee, and that the meaning of this, u who- 
ever dug a well for his brother, why truly he fell into it," 
should display brightness. And an eminent man hath 
said, do not evil, lest thou fall into evil ; dig not a well, 
lest thou fall in thyself. 

Daman ah replied, I, in this occurrence, am the 
oppressed, not the tyrant ; I bear the violence, and am 
not the doer of violence; and if the injured man be in the 
design of revenge against the oppressor, what retribution 
will there be for that; and if any hurt should come from 
him to his tormenter, what harm will be con sequent upon 
that. 

Kalilah said, I have allowed that in this proceeding, 
no mischief may find a way into thy affairs ; but yet, in 
what manner canst thou labour for the destruction of the 
ox; whilst he has strength superior to thy strength; and 
his friends and allies are more than thy friends and 
adherents. 

Dam an ah said, One should not lay the foundations 
of affairs upon great strength, and countless assistants; 
but should prefer skill and contrivance before them; for 
whatever men do by skill and stratagem, the probability 
is that it would not succeed by force and strength : and 
has it never reached thee, how a raven destroyed a snake 
by stratagem ? 

i 



GO 

Kalilah said, how was that? 

Story. 

He replied, They have related that a raven had fixed 
her abode in the middle of a mountain, and had made her 
nest in the cleft of a rock; and in the vicinity of it was 
the hole of a snake, the water of whose mouth might be 
destructive and deadly poison, and the saliva of the roots 
of his teeth would be destructive of the constitution of 
perpetuity and life. Whenever the raven deposited her 
young, the snake would eat them ; and used to burn the 
liver of the raven with the brand of the loss of her off- 
spring. When the cruelty of the snake was gone beyond 
limit, the worn-out raven communicated the complaint of 
that condition to a jackal, who was her friend, and said, 
I am thinking how I shall extricate myself from the 
calamity of the snake, and from the evil of this life- 
hunting tyrant. The jackal asked, In what way wilt thou 
advance in this emergency ? and by what art wilt thou 
avert his mischief? The raven replied, I mean, that when 
the snake is gone to sleep, I will dig out his world-seeing 
eyes, with my blood-drinking beak ; that he may not 
again be able to make an attack upon my joy of the eye; 
and that my children, which are the light of my eye, may 
be left safe from the wickedness of that malicious look. 

The jackal said, This scheme is wide of the track of 
right conduct : for it behoves prudent men to make an 
attack upon an enemy by some method, in which there 
may be no danger of life. Beware : depart from this 
thought, that thou mayest not ruin thyself, like the 
heron, who exerted himself to destroy the crab, and gave 
his own dear life to the winds. 

The raven said, how happened that ? 

Story. 

The jackal said. There was a heron, dwelling upon the 
bank of a certain piece of water; and of all objects the 
purport of his heart was turned to fishing; and he used 



61 

to catch fish, to the extent of his wants, and pass his life 
in comfort: when the weakness of old age made way upon 
him, and his bodily faculties were inclined to give way, 
being unequal to the pursuit of fish, and being caught in 
the snare of grief, he said to himself, Couplet. — " Alas ! 
the caravan of life ! for it is gone so far, that their dust 
has not reached the air of our country." Alas! for I have 
flung precious life to the winds, in trifling sports : I have 
not laid up in store any thing which in the season of old 
age may afford any traces of manhood, or give me any 
support : and at this day there is not any strength left, 
and there is no amends for strength : that will be best, 
that I build my conduct upon stratagem, and spread out 
the net of device and deceit ; it may be that, by this sub- 
terfuge, life may go on. So he sat down upon the brink 
of the water, like those who weep and sigh, and make 
lamentation. A certain crab espied him afar off; she 
came forward, and having thrown out the first forms of 
familiar talk, said. My dear sir, I find thee melancholy; 
what is the reason of it ? He replied. How shall I not 
be sorrowful ? And thou dost not know that the source of 
my maintenance, and the stock of my living was this ; that 
every day I used to catch a fish or two, and hence there 
would result to me a check to the last gasp, food to stop 
death : there was no great loss to the fish from this ; and 
my days were decked in the ornament of contentment and 
gladness. To-day, two sportsmen were passing along here 
and saying, that there were a great many fish in this lake, 
and that some contrivance must be made for them. One 
of them said. In such and such a lake the fish are more 
numerous than this ; let us first settle their business, and 
then turn our views upon these. Now if the matter is to 
be in this fashion, I must tear up my heart from sweet 
life, and fix it upon the bitterness of death. The crab, 
when she heard this news, instantly returned, and went up 
to the fishes, and related the alarming intelligence, just 



62 

as die had heard it. Agitation and clamour broke out 
amongst them ; and in union with the crab they set their 
faces to the heron, and said. Such a piece of news has 
reached us from thee, and borne away the reins of con- 
nix since from our hands. Couplet. — " The more we look 
upon the emergency, from head to foot, the more, like the 
compasses, arc wegiddy." Now we consult with thee. He 
who is consulted is trustworthy. A wise man, although it 
were an enemy, when they consult with him, it behoves 
him that he should not lay aside the conditions of advice; 
and especially in an affair where the advantage may revert 
to him. Now thou dost thyself acknowledge that the 
continuance of thy being is wrapped up in us: and that 
thy life is dependent upon our existence : so what dost 
thou think right in our concerns ? 

The heron answered thus. I heard these words myself 
from the tongue of the fishermen ; and resistance against 
them cannot take any shape: nor does anv device but this 
occur to my mind. I know a lake, close by, whose water 
breathes equality in clearness with the pure dawn ; and in 
reflecting forms takes precedence of the mirror, displaying 
the world: one can count the grains of sand at the bottom 
of it, and sec the eggs of the fish in its basin: and yet 
withal neither can the diver of comprehension reach to its 
depth ; nor the traveller of the fancy perceive its shore; 
the eye ol" the snare of any sportsman hath not fallen on 
that lake; and the fish of that pool have not known any 
Imprisonment but a chain of water. Couplet. — " It is a 
lake in the likeness of an ocean; but it is an ocean without 
end oi- bottom.* 1 If ye could remove to that place, ve 
might be in safety and repose, in enjoyment and tran- 
quility, for the remainder of life. They said, It is a good 
notion ; but our removal is not possible without thy help 
and aid. The heron replied, I should not begrudge you 
whatever I may have of strength and power; but the time 
' bort ; the fisherman may come from hour to hour, and 



63 

the opportunity be lost. The fish supplicated ; and as a 
great favour, the determination settled upon this ; that 
every day having taken up several fish, he should carry 
them to that lake. So every morning the heron used to 
take away several fish, and eat them on the top of the 
hillock that was in the neighbourhood. And when he 
used to come back, the others would make haste for the 
removal and change; and seek for advance and precedence 
over one another. Wisdom looked upon their folly and 
negligence with the eye of example; and time, with a 
thousand eyes, wept over their lamentable condition. And 
doubtless, every one who is beguiled by the flattery of an 
enemy, and holds as proper reliance upon a base person, 
mean in race, his deserts are this. 

When many days had passed, a fancy for that lake 
having got into the head of a crab also, he wanted to 
remove ; and gave the heron knowledge of the idea. The 
heron reflected thus : There is not a more thorough enemy 
to me than he ; the besi; thing is this, that I convey him 
away also to his friends. So he advanced, and having 
taken the crab upon his neck, he set off for the bed- 
chamber of the fish. The crab, who saw the bones of the 
fish from afar, understood how the matter w r as, and con- 
sidered with himself thus: a sensible man, when he sees 
that an enemy has a design upon his life, if he neglects 
exertion will have toiled in his own blood ; and when he 
shall strive, his condition will not go beyond two things ; 
if he becomes victorious, he leaves a reputation for courage 
upon the page of time ; or if the business should not 
prosper, at least he is not reproached for want of spirit 
and self-defence. Fragment. — " When an enemy has 
attacked thee, in order to repel the injury, strive with 
zeal and energy, if thou art distinguished by reason ; for 
if thy desire comes to hand, thou readiest thy wish ; and 
if it does not come about, thou art then excused." Then 
the crab cast himself about the neck of the heron, and 



64 

began to squeeze his throat tight. The heron was old 
and feeble, and becoming senseless with the least pressure 
on his throat, hr fell down from the air, and became even 
with the dust. The erah having alighted from his neck, 
took his own fancy ; and having set his foot on the w T ay, 
came to the rest of the fish, and mingling condolence for 
departed friends with congratulations on the life of those 
present, gave them information of the state of the case. 
The whole being delighted, reckoned on the death of the 
heron as a new existence, and a life without measure. 
Verses. — " One moment of life, after the death of such an 
enemy, I have a notion it is better than a century of exis- 
tence : we do not exult over the death of our enemy ; but 
then one moment of separation from an enemy is better 
than thou canst name." 

And I have struck off this copy, that thou mayest 
understand that many a man goes to ruin by his own 
deceit and cunning; and that the mischief of his treachery, 
according to this text, " base fraud does not take effect, 
except upon its author," turns round upon himself. But 
I will show thee a method, which if you act upon it, may 
be the cause of thy security, and the ruin of thine enemy. 
The raven said. It is not possible to depart from the di- 
rections of friends, nor to oppose the judgment of the wise. 
( ^//jjfef. — u Thou guidest me, cup-bearer, to the wine- 
house : opposition to thy will is not the path of affection." 
The jackal said. The best thing is this ; that thou take 
flight to the top of the air, and east thy sight upon the 
terraces of the houses and the plains ; and wherever thou 
Beesf any jewellery, the seizure of which may be practi- 
cal >le, having conic down, thou shalt take it up, and fly 
into the open space of the air, in such a way that thou be 
not lost from the sight of the people ; for there is no 
doubt but sonic men will come upon the track, in pursuit 
of the ornament ; and when thou shalt come near the 
snake drop it down upon him, that to those people the 



65 

sight may fall upon him : certainly, having first let him 
loose from the bondage of life, they will take up the 
jewels ; and thy heart shall find rest, without thyself having 
made any exertion to get rid of him. The raven, at the 
suggestion of the jackal, set off for inhabited places ; she 
saw a woman, who having laid her ornaments in a corner 
of the terrace, was herself occupied in her ablutions ; these 
the raven carried off, and just in the manner that the jackal 
had said, threw them on the snake. The men who had 
come on the track of the raven, instantly beat his head 
to pieces : and the raven escaped free. Hemistich. — " The 
enemy went from the midst, and the tears also from the 
bosom." 

Dainanah said. I have told this tale, that thou mayest 
know that what it is possible to do by cunning, may not 
be possible by strength. Kalllah said. To the ox strength 
and fierceness, reason and management, all abound ; and 
by stratagem, it is not possible to get the better of such a 
person ; for on every side, where thou by stratagem shall 
effect an opening, he by thought will close it up ; and it 
is likely that before thou shalt make a supper upon him, 
he will make a breakfast off thee. Perhaps the story of 
that hare has never come to thy ears, who formed the 
purpose of entrapping the fox, and got caught herself. 

Dainanah said, how was that ? 

Story. 

Kalllah said. I have heard that a hungry wolf was 
running along a plain, on the scent of a meal ; he saw a 
hare, asleep, in the shade of a bush ; and the sleep of 
negligence had seized upon all parts of her. The wolf 
reckoned her an immense booty, and began to advance 
slowly towards her. The hare, being warned by the alarm 
of his breath, and the dread of his step, jumped up, and 
wanted to run away. The wolf, having got possession of 
the road, said. Couplet. — "Come on, come on; fori 
have no power to bear distance : go not, go not ; for I 



66 

am in despair by absence." The hare stood still on the 
spot, with awe of him ; and having begun to supplicate, 
rubbed the face of entreaty on the earth, and said, I know 
that the fire of the hunger of the prince of beasts is in a 
blaze ; and that the faculty of nutrition, by reason of the 
search of food, is in agitation: yet I, witli this feeble frame 
and weak body, am no more than one mouthful for the 
prince : what is the good of me ; by eating me up, what 
can be made secure, or what set free? There is in this 
neighbourhood a fox, who from excess of fatness cannot 
travel ; and from abundance of flesh is not able to move. 
Somehow, I think that his flesh, in juice and freshness, is 
like the water of life ; and his blood, in sweetness and 
delicacy, like sherbet of sugar-candy. If the prince would 
give his feet the trouble, I would, by any stratagem that 
I can, bring him into captivity, and the prince may just 
break his fast upon him : if any pleasure should arise, why 
there it is ; and if not, I am still your prisoner and captive. 
Get others into the noose ; for we ourselves are captive. 
The w r clf being deluded by his false and juggling words, 
followed the path to the dwelling of the fox. Now there 
was in that neighbourhood a fox, who in deceitfulness 
might have read a lecture to Satan ; and who, in forming 
devices and playing tricks, might have given a lesson to 
fancy and imagination. Verses. — " He was a little fox, 
alert and hypocritical ; or if not, he w r as the lord of that 
wilderness : he was a sprite, the conjuror of the plains and 
the village ; and in his subtlety had carried off the victory 
from all the beasts: both the beasts of the plains were 
lamenting about him; and the dogs of the village w r ere 
howling against him : at the moment of leaping, he be- 
came lost from view, having swept the court of the sky 
\\ ith the broom ol* his tail." 

The hare had an old quarrel with him : upon this occa- 
sion, having found an opportunity, he formed the design 
of revenge : so having left the wolf at the entrance of the 



67 

hole, he entered the abode of the fox, and fulfilled the 
customs of salutation and good wishes. The fox, too, with 
great deference, returned an answer to the salutation, and 
said. Couplet. — " Thou art welcome ; whence comest 
thou ? come in ; sit down : come in ; for I will give thee 
a place upon my face and my eyes ; sit down. The hare 
said. For a long time since I am always in anxiety for 
the honour of an interview ; and am disappointed of that 
happiness by the impediments of treacherous fortune, and 
the accidents of a faithless and inconstant age; but lately 
a holy man, who in the Egypt of divine favour is exalted 
to sovereignty, and in the regions of spiritual power is a 
sage indulgent to disciples, has done us the honour to come 
to this country from the sacred shrine : and having heard 
the fame of the monastic seclusion and retirement of your 
lordship, has made your humble slave a means of intro- 
duction, that he may enlighten the eye of his heart with 
that world-adorning beauty, and perfume the palate of his 
soul with the odours of your musk-like thoughts: if there 
be permission for a meeting, then good ; but if the time 
docs not allow it, some other chance may occur. Couplet. 
— " Either let him go back from this gate, like unforeseen 
calamities : or let him alight upon this place, like the 
prayer that is accepted." 

The fox read off, from the page of this discourse, a 
picture of stratagem ; and contemplated in the mirror of 
these words the image of a deceitful scheme. He said to 
himself. The wisest thing is this ; that I should proceed 
with them, just in their own fashion; and just pour down 
their throats some of their own draughts. A stone is the 
recoinpence of him who flings stones. So the fox, too, 
set a great deal of flattery to work ; and said. We have 
girded up the loins in the service of travellers lor this 
purpose; and have opened the door of the cell in the face 
of holy men — for the sake of this — that we may derive a 
benefit from the sublimity of their state of extacy, and 

K 



68 

from their excellent thoughts; especially such a holy man 
as thou dost represent: and to this kind of eminent person, 
>m thou dost describe, what deficiency can I show in 
hospitality, or what minute point can I neglect in humble 
duty? For " the guest when he alights, alights to his 
own appointed food;" and our ancestors have said. 
Fragment* — " Whomsoever thou mavest see in the world 
is eating his own daily hread ; whether his bread be from 
thy board, or from his own board: therefore it behoves 
thee to receive a favour from a guest, because he eats, 
at the board of thy abundance, his own bread." But I 
entertain a hope that thou wilt make some delay, that I 
may draw a broom over this corner of a nest; and that, 
for the sake of this guest of holy steps, I may spread a 
carpet which may be worthy of the occasion. The hare 
imagined that his invention having taken with the fox, he 
would instantly have the honour of waiting upon the wolf. 
He replied. The guest is a man without ceremony, and 
simple in character; and has an indifference to finery of 
lodging and clothing : but since your transcendent mind 
desires to observe some ceremony, there is no harm neither 
in that ; go to the business. He said this, and came out 
and communicated the whole occurrence to the wolf; and 
gave him glad tidings of the fox having been deluded : 
and then in repetition, for in every novelty there is a 
pleasure, he began to praise the flesh, and the fat, the 
juiciness and freshness of the fox. While the wolf, having 
sharpened the teeth of appetite, was sweetening his mouth 
with the relish of the flesh of the fox; and the hare, 
because of this good service, was forming with himself a 
notion of freedom. But the fox, from views of caution 
and foresight, prior to this by a long time, had dug a deep 
pit in his dwelling, and gradually carried out all the earth 
of it : and had covered the top of it with a little rubbish 
and hushes; and he had also a secret way, by which, in 
time of necessity, he could get out from there. When 



69 

he had dispatched the hare he came to the edge of the 
pit, and arranged the rubbish and bushes of it in such a 
manner, that it would sink on a slight movement. Then 
coming to the mouth of the secret path, he called out 
thus. O venerable guests, give your feet the trouble. 
And in the moment of their entrance, he departed by that 
opening. The hare, with prodigious alacrity, and the 
wolf, with thorough greediness, walked into that dark cell. 
To step upon the edge of the rubbish, and to tumble to 
the bottom of the pit, was the same thing. The wolf 
fancied that this trick, too, was one of the hare's doings ; 
he instantly tore her in pieces, and relieved the world from 
the disgrace of her existence. 

And I have produced this instance, that thou shouldest 
understand that stratagem will not advance with clever 
men ; and that a person who has any share of caution and 
forethought, does not grow conceited by the delusions of 
any one. 

Damanah replied. It is as thou sayest : but the ox is 
conceited of himself, and is inattentive to my animosity ; 
and I can overthrow him by his negligence : for the 
treacherous arrow, which they let fly from the ambush of 
friendship, is the more penetrating. Perhaps thou hast 
not heard in what way the treachery of the hare became 
effectual upon the lion ; and that since he was inattentive 
to the fraud, notwithstanding his sagacity and penetration, 
he fell into the labyrinth of ruin. 

Kalilah said, how was that ? 

Story. 

Damanah said. They have related that in the vicinity 
of Bagdad there was a meadow, whose breezes might 
perfume the odour of paradise ; and the lustre of whose 
sweet herbs might enlighten the eye of the sky : from each 
branch of its flowery banks a thousand stars were shining; 
and in the beauty of every one of those stars nine spheres 
revolving. Verses, — " Flowing streams, through herbage 



70 



i-«l on ni 



loisture; like quicksilver, through a statue of lapis 
lazuli: sweet herbs sprouted up on the banks of the stream; 
the gales shedding amber; the air smelling of musk.*' 

Now in that meadow there were many harmless animals; 
and by means of the goodness of the climate, the delight- 
fulness of the position, the plenty of water, and the vastness 
of the abundance, they used to pass the time in pleasure 
and com fort. But in the neighbourhood was a fierce- 
tempered mischief-seeking lion ; who used every day to 
exhibit to those helpless creatures an unpropitious meeting; 
and made enjoyment and existence disagreeable to them. 
( Ine day, having come to the agreement, they went to the 
lion; and having set forth their allegiance and obedience, 
they said, O king! we are thy subjects and attendants; 
and thou, every day, after vast pains and boundless trouble, 
art able to hunt down one of us, or not : while we are 
constantly, from dread of thee, under a struggle of mis- 
fortune; and thou also, in the pursuit of us, art in a chase 
after sorrow. We have just now made a scheme, which 
may be a means of tranquility to thee, and a cause of 
security and rest to us. If, as heretofore, thou wilt not be 
vexatious to ns, and wilt not daily make our time mise- 
rable, we will send a head of game, at breakfast time, as a 
daily provision for (he kitchen of the king ; nor will we 
allow any deficiency in the delivery of it. The lion gave 
his consent to it. And they, every day, used to cast lots; 
and in the name of whomsoever of the animals it came 
up, they would send him to the lion for the purpose of the 
dailj supply; till in this manner some time had elapsed. 
One day the lot came forth in the name of the hare; and 
the times made her the target of the arrow of evil. She 
said to her friends. If yon will show a little forbearance 
towards me, in Bending me, I will extricate you from the 
oppression of this tyrant. They replied. On this point 
there is no harm. The hare for an hour made delay, till 
thr rime of breakfast was gone by; and the ferocious 



nature of the lion having come into action, he was grinding 
his teeth together, in a rage with the animals. The hare 
went very softly towards him, and found him exceedingly 
vexed ; the fire of hunger having seated him upon the 
wind, and the glare of anger being manifest in each 
movement and attitude. Couplet. — " The oven of the 
stomach, every moment heating; would be a calamity on 
the day of not finding.' 1 The hare found the lion, from 
excess of rage, beating his tail, in vengeance, on the 
ground ; and seeking, with anxiety of mind, an infringe- 
ment of the treaty. He advanced slowly, and made a 
salutation. The lion enquired, whence comest thou ? and 
what is the matter with the beasts ? She said. According 
to established custom, they had sent a hare in company 
with me; and by mutual consent, we had the design of 
attendance: a lion came up with us on the way, and 
snatched her up: and though we used vehemence, saying 
it was the food of the king of the harmless animals, and 
the daily supply of their monarch, he paid no attention to 
my words, but said, this is my hunting ground ; and the 
game of it belongs to me : thou hast not heard, perhaps, 
" every lion and his own woods." O king, having set 
forth pride and boasting, he so explained the power of his 
might, that I became at a loss, and have fled from 
before him, that I might lay the state of the case open to 
your enlightened mind. The haughtiness of ignorance 
being excited in the lion, he said. Verses. — " I am one 
who, in the art of taunts and blows, will teach among 
lions the rules of war : what lion shall show this daring, 
that he casts his paw upon my prey ?" Then he said. O 
hare! canst thou show him to me, that I might do justice 
to thy heart against him, and also reap my own revenge? 
The hare said. Why should not I be able, when he lias 
uttered all sorts of disrespectful expressions with respect to 
the king: and if I had been able, I would have made the 
cup of his head a water trough for the beasts of the field. 



72 

( bvpkt. — w But I trust in God, that I shall see him in thy 
dutches ; to my heart's desire." She said this, and put 
hi reelf in advance ; and the simple-hearted lion, beguiled 
hv her fraud, began to move on behind her. 

The hare led the lion to the brink of a large well, whose 
water, by its clearness, like a mirror of China, would 
represent all forms correctly; and would, without mistake, 
tell the character of the dress, and the countenance of each 
of the beholders. Couplet. — " No one ever looked into 
it ; but he perused his own image from the page of its 
brilliant mind." She said. O king! thy worthless enemy 
is in this well ; and I am frightened at his awfulness : if 
your majesty would take me into his bosom, I could show 
the enemy to him. The lion having taken her into his 
bosom, looked down into the well, and saw the image of 
himself and the hare in the water. He thought it was 
that lion, and that he had dragged to his breast the hare 
which had been his daily supply. He dropped her, and 
threw himself into the well ; and after two or three plunges 
gave up his blood-thirsty soul to the flames of hell. And 
the hare, returning in safety, gave the animals intelligence 
of the particulars of the event: and they shewing constancy 
in the daily duty of thankfulness to God, went on grazing 
at ease in gardens of security and peace ; and used to 
repeal ibis Couplet. — " A single draught of water, after 
sad thoughts, is pleasanter than a life of seventy years." 

In producing this example, it is understood, that an 
enemy, however powerful he may be, in a state of care- 
lessness, it is possible to get the advantage over him. 
kalilali Baid. If thou shouldst be able to ruin the ox, so 
that any vexation may not reach the lion, it might have 
some shew, and one might, in some sort excuse it; but 
if his destruction should not succeed without injury to the 
lion, take care that thouset not about the business: for a 
sensible person will not choose inconvenience to one whom 
In- serves, for the sake of his own comfort. The conver- 



73 

sation, at these words, came to an end : and Damanah, 
having abstained from attendance, went into the corner of 
seclusion ; till one day, having found an opportunity, he 
thrust himself in private upon the lion, and stood, like one 
that is sorrowful and grieved, with a sore mind, and his 
head down. The lion said. It is many days that I have 
not seen thee : is it well ? He replied. Please God, in 
future, it may he well. The lion was startled, and said 
Has anything happened ? He said yes. He said. Relate 
it. Damanah answered. There must be a private place, 
and a leisure time for that. The lion replied. This 
moment is the time ; explain it cjuickly, for important 
affairs do not endure delay: and if the business of to-day 
falls upon to-morrow, a thousand evils may appear 
Couplet. — " Make no delay ; but bring forward the chief 
point of the business : for in delay there are many evils." 
Damanah said. Every word, on hearing which, aversion 
may happen to the hearer; in relating those things, one 
should shew boldness ; and it is not fit to repeat them, 
except upon much thought and great consideration; unless 
there be perfect confidence in the reason and discrimination 
of the hearer; and he who hears them also should consider 
the circumstances of the speaker; whether he is in a 
position for advice and well-wishing, or not; and when 
he knows that the speaker can have no object but the dis- 
charge of the claims of patronage, he ought to shew atten- 
tion to his words, with the ear of consent; especially when 
the benefits and advantages of them revert back to him. 
The lion said. Thou dost know that I am become an 
exception from kings, by the superiority of my judgment, 
and the excellency of my prudence ; and that in listening 
to the language of every person, I make royal discrimi- 
nation the model of my mind: do thou say whatever 
thou wilt, without ceremony ; and without hesitation do 
not keep secret whatever may have come to thy mind. 
Damanah said. I also have obtained permission for this 



74 

boldness, on this account, that my confidence is to the 
utmost settled upon the wisdom and knowledge of your 
majesty ; and besides it is not concealed, that I utter my 
words out of pure affection, and the essence of honesty; 
and do not pollute them with mistrust and doubt, or with 
design and motives: and nothing but the touchstone of 
the imperial nature ascertains the standard of the coin of 
wbrds. Couplet. — " Praise to God! thai the understanding 
of the king- is a touchstone ; which can ascertain our 
alloy and our pureness." The lion replied. The fulness 
of th v honesty is manifest ; and the remarks of it are clear 
on the forehead of thy habits; and without reserve, thy 
words become imputed to affection and advice ; while 
suspicion and doubt find no place of entrance about them. 
Damanah said. The preservation of the whole mass of 
animals is bound up with the life of your majesty; it 
therefore behoves every one of the subjects who is endued 
and distinguished by the marks of pure disposition, and 
genuine descent, that he withhold nothing' from the king, 
in the discharge of duty, and declaration of the sincerity 
of advice : for philosophers have said, that whoever con- 
ceals any right from the king, or any infirmity from the 
physician, or who does not see fit to expose his poverty 
and want to bis friends, will have committed treachery to 
himself. The lion said. Thy attachment and singleness 
of mind have been long ago apparent to me; and I have 
known thy honesty and integrity: now tell me what has 
happened, that after a knowledge of the particulars of the 
case, occupation may proceed with the management of it, 
Damanah, when he had deluded and deceived the lion with 
bis canting and cheating, let loose his tongue, and said. 
( '<>tt)>l( I . — " ( ) king ! may discretion be thy guide; victory 
thy friend: and enemies thy contempt." Shanzabah has 
had many private interviews with the generals of the army; 
and lias introduced conversations with the pillars of the 
state: and lias -aid thus. I have tried the lion; and have 



75 

learnt the measure of his strength and power, and judg- 
ment and sagacity; and in each have observed many 
defects, and innumerable weakness. Couplet. — " He was 
not such, as he was to us in idea; we had a great notion 
of him, but he was no such thing." And I am in amaze- 
ment, that your majesty, in honouring this treacherous 
denier of munificence, shewed all that excess; and made 
him the second of two, in power and authority; in return 
for all that favour, this idea has come into being from him ; 
and in opposition to so much kindness, this design has 
thrust out its head from his character. But to a certainty, 
in conformity with — verily man is rebellious, if his will be 
independent — the person who sees his hands unshackled 
in commanding and forbidding, and finds the reins of 
loosening and binding general affairs in the grasp of his 
own authority — the demon of strife will lay eggs in the 
nest of his brain ; and the lust of wickedness will burst 
forth from the blackness of his heart. Verses. — " The 
man whom the world shall raise up from the well of con- 
tempt, and carry to the summit of admiration ; it were a 
wonder, if he should not make a claim to sovereignty; or 
throw the heads of the rebellious into the noose." The 
lion said, O Dam an ah ! consider well what words these 
are which thou spcakest, and whence thou hast learnt the 
particulars of this circumstance : and if it be, as is under- 
stood from thy declaration, of what sort the management 
of it should be. Damanah said, The exaltation of his 
rank, and the elevation of his station, are clear to your 
majesty. And when a king sees any one of his servants 
in competition with himself in degree of honour, wealth, 
and pomp, he should the more quickly remove him from 
his presence, or else the business will get out of his hands; 
and the king will fall from his position. And the remedy 
for this matter, in such wise as the enlightened mind, the 
shelter of government may dictate — where can our languid 
thoughts, and deficient talents reach to it. I am sure, 

L 



76 

however, that arrangements in this affair ought to he made 
with promptitude; and that if you deliberate, it is possihle 
the matter may eomc to that point, that the fool of 
management will he unequal to the extent of its manage- 
ment. Fragment. — " Thy enemy was only an ant; it 
became a snake: pick out the brains from this ant, grown 
to a snake: give him not time, any longer; do not carry 
on life: for he hecomes a dragon, if a snake finds time." 
And they have said that men are of two classes: the man 
of caution, and the inefficient man: the inefficient is one 
who, at the time of the occurrence of an event, or the 
falling out of any accident, is confused in head, distracted, 
agitated in manner, and wandering; while the man of 
caution is one who, having followed forethought, is always 
considering the consequences of affairs. Men of caution, 
also, are of two kinds. First, he who, before the appear- 
ance of the danger, shall have recognized the quality of it ; 
and that which others learn in the termination of affairs, 
he, in the commencement of them, shall have seen with 
the eye of reason; and who shall have provided for the 
conclusions of matters, in the beginnings. Verses, — 
" First thought; last action." And such a person, before 
he shall fall into the whirlpool of calamity, is able to 
convey himself to the shore of freedom : and him they 
call most cautious. And the second is one who, when 
misfortune comes, keeping his courage steady, does not 
give way to consternation and alarm : and, doubtless, to 
such a person the path of right conduct, and the means 
of management, will not he concealed: and this man they 
call cautious; And applicable to the condition of these 
three persons (of whom one is perfectly wise, and another 
half Wise, and the third a negligent fool,) is the story of 
those three fish who had fallen together in a pond. The 
lion asked in whit way was that : 

Story. 
Damanafa Said, They have related that there was a lake 



77 

far from the high road, hidden, and concealed from the 
passage of travellers : its water pure, like the faith of the 
spiritual ; its appearance, gratifying to those who were 
looking for the fountain of immortality ; and the lake 
communicated with the running stream. And three 
huge fishes there reposed : Pisees, in jealousy of them, 
would burn upon the pan of envy, like Aries under the 
heat of the sun : one of them was most cautious ; ano- 
ther, cautious ; and the other, helpless. Suddenly, in 
the season of spring, when the world, from the splendour 
of the garden, had become a pattern of Paradise, and 
where all parts of the expanse of the earth, with its spark- 
ling herbs, were like the azure vault, full of stars; when 
the chamberlain, the morning breeze, had adorned the 
floor of the earth with variegated couplets ; and the 
matchless gardener of creation had ornamented the gar- 
den of the world with flowers of various hues. Verses. 
— " The garden was loaded with musk by the breeze of 
the moon ; the jessamine, in its delicacy, like the check 
of our beloved ; at the breath of the dawn, the rose 
opened her lips, like a smiling beauty encouraging her 
lover." 

Suddenly, the way of two or three fishermen chanced 
to be by that lake. Providentially, they fully discovered 
the circumstance of the abode of the three fish in the 
lake ; so they made an appointment together, and ran to 
fetch a net. The fishes, being aware of the occurrence, 
fell into company with the fire of anguish, in the very 
heart of the water. When night came on, that fish 
which was perfectly wise, and professed the most caution, 
because he had many times seen the assault of the 
treacherous times, and the insolent looks of the indis- 
criminate sky, and had always stood firm on the floor of 
experience, began to turn in his mind the thought of escape 
from the net of the fishermen, and the idea of liberation 
from their capture. Verses, — " Recognise that man as 



78 

prudent and wise, who lays a solid foundation for all his 
proceedings ; the man whose caution is not firm, the 
foundation of all his designs will be very weak." So he 
set his face briskly to the work, and, or ever he made any 
consultation with his friends, got out on that side where 
it was connected with the river. At dawn, the fisher- 
men, making their appearance, firmly secured the two 
ends of the lake ; and the half-clever fish, who was dis- 
tinguished by the ornament of prudence, but had no 
share of the stores of prudence, when he observed the 
circumstance, felt great shame, and said, I have given 
way to supincness, and such is the conclusion of the 
affairs of the negligent ; it would have been right that I, 
like that fish, should have tasted my trouble, before the 
arrival of the misfortune ; and should have thought of 
escape, before the attack of calamity. Couplet. — " The 
remedy for an occurrence should be made before the 
event ; neglect docs no good when the affair has got 
beyond our reach." 

Now that the opportunity of flight has been lost, is the 
season for deceit and stratagem. Though they have said, 
that arrangements in a time of distress, do not yield much 
advantage ; and that much enjoyment does not arise from 
the fruit of skill in the season of calamity ; yet, with all 
this, it behoves a wise man that he should, on no account, 
despair of the benefits of wisdom ; and should never 
admit of delay or tardiness in repelling the devices of an 
enemy. So he feigned himself dead, and went floating on 
the surface of the water. One of the fishermen picked 
him up ; and, under the notion of his being dead, flung 
him on the bare ground; and he, by a trick, threw him- 
self into the river, and saved his life. Couplet. — " Die, 
my friend, if thou desirest freedom ; for without dying, 
thou canst not find thy friend." 

Bui the other fish, in whose habits supincness was 
predominant, and weakness manifest in all his actions, 



79 

went about, right and left, astounded, confused, delirious, 
and unsteady ; and kept looking to the surface, and to the 
bottom, until at last he was caught. 

And from the relation of this fable, it will appear cer- 
tain to the king, that speed must be used in the matter of 
Shanzabah ; and that, before the loss of opportunity and 
power, he should, with a sword of high temper, strike the 
fire of remorse into the soul of that vile dust, — give the 
granary of his life to the wind of destruction, — and send 
up the smoke of his lineage to the sky. Couplet. — 
" Whilst power still remains over the treacherous foe, 
dash out his brains with the stone of desolation." 

The lion replied, What thou hast said, has been under- 
stood; but I have no suspicion that Shanzabah meditates 
any dishonesty, or that he will allow the sure results of 
ingratitude to stand in opposition to my past acts of 
bounty ; for, in all this time, I have never held any thing 
to be right towards him, but goodness and kindness. 

Damanah said, It is even so ; but it is these favours of 
the king, which has raised him to this elevation. Couplet. 
— " It is for thee to say, where the scar shall be ; and 
since thou layest on the ointment, what does it signify?" 

An abject fellow, of a base spirit, will be of one mind and 
give good advice, all the time that he has not reached the 
station of which he is in hopes ; but when his object is 
attained, a desire for other degrees of elevation, for which 
he has no fitness, will burst forth from the treasury of bis 
fancy. And the ancients have said, that the duty of a 
base and low-born man depends upon the rule of fear and 
hope : where he is secure against the effects of fear, he 
darkens the fountain head of loyalty ; and where, by the 
attainment of all his hopes, he feels self-sufficient, he 
kindles the fire of ingratitude and disturbance- The lion 
said, Then, in what way can one 4 proceed witb servants of 
a base disposition, and of low sentiments ; so that vestiges 
of ingratitude may not become manifest ? Damanah 



80 

answered, One should not so far deprive thein of one's 
favours, that becoming all at once hopeless, and quitting 
our service, they shall incline to our enemies ; nor yet 
should we bestow such bounty and wealth upon them, that 
having attained to the limits of prosperity, extravagant 
fancies may burst out in them : but they should rather 
always live between fear and hope ; and all their under- 
takings should turn upon the promises and threats of fear 
and hope. For power and security will render them self- 
sufficient ; and that may be a means of rebellion and 
offence : despair and misery will make servants audacious ; 
and that becomes a cause of injury to the dignity of kings. 
Couplet. — " The hopeless man becomes daring and inso- 
lent of speech; Oh! my friend, do not act so that I shall 
become hopeless/' 

The lion replied, To my mind it seems, that the mirror 
of Shanzabah's character is quite clear of the rust of this 
deceit ; and that the page of his heart is pure and 
free from the writing of such a fancy ; for I have always 
been upon a footing of indulgence to him ; I have even 
made my favours to mingle with his fortune : and after 
kindness and benefits have constantly overtaken him from 
me, how can he meditate harm and injury in return for 
this ? Couplet. — " Since my heart makes itself conspi- 
cuous by love for him, w T hy should he raise the standard 
in enmity to me ?" 

Damanah said, The king ought to know that truth can 
never proceed from those who are crooked in temper ; 
and that one of an evil disposition, and of a corrupt stock, 
will never, nor by the exertions of others, nor by his own 
efforts, become amiable in temper, or virtuous in cha- 
racter. " Every pot leaks with what is in it." Verse. — 
u The same thing trickles out from the pitcher that is 
within." Perhaps the story of the scorpion and the tortoise 
may not have reached the august hearing of your majesty. 

The lion enquired what it was ; and Damanah said, 



81 

Story. 
A tortoise had an attachment to a scorpion ; they were 
ever breathing the air of unanimity, and forming plans of 
concord. Couplet. — " From morn to night, united and 
intimate ; from eve till dawn, associates and confidential." 
It happened on a time, that by reason of some necessity, 
it would be necessary to abandon their native spot; and 
so the two set off, in company with each other, for another 
habitation. By chance their way lay across a vast river, 
and a great stream of water appeared across their path ; 
and since the passage of the scorpion across the water was 
out of the question, he fell back in amaze. The tortoise 
said, My dear friend, what has come to you, that you 
have given the collar of the garment of life into the hand 
of melancholy, and have gathered up the skirt of your 
heart from joy and gladness ? The scorpion said, My 
brother! the thought about getting over this water has 
thrown me into a whirlpool of consternation ; neither the 
passage over the river is to be accomplished ; nor to sus- 
tain separation from my friends possible. Couplet. — 
"Thou goest on, whilst I, desolate, remain behind; how 
that I should endure without thee; a wonder that I should 
remain at all." The tortoise said, Don't suffer any pain; 
for I, carrying you without the least trouble over the 
water, will land you on the bank; and turning my back 
into a boat, I will make a breast thy buckler against 
calamity ; it would be a pity, with difficulty to gain a 
friend, and with coolness give him up. Couplet. — " My 
friend ! go on ; with all thou hast, purchase an attached 
friend, and do not sell him for any thing." So the 
tortoise, taking the scorpion on her back, cast her bosom 
on the water, set off. In the midst of her swimming, a 
sound reached the ears of the tortoise, and she perceived 
a tapping made by some action of the scorpion: She said, 
what noise is this, I hear, and what is the work that you 
seem so busy about ? The scorpion gave answer, I am 



82 

only trying the point of my sting on your armour and 
helmet. The tortoise was incensed, and said, Unfeeling 
wretch! for you I have cast my life into a whirlpool of 
dangers ; and you are passing the water hy the help 
of the boat of my back; if you don't make gratitude an 
obligation, if you set no weight upon the rights of early 
intercourse, what at least is the reason of stinging? since 
it is certain that no harm can come to me from this act ; 
nor will your heart-tearing sting have the least effect on 
my back, resembling a marble quarry. Couplet. — " It is 
most probable, that he will wound his hand and his mind; 
he who in violence knocks his fist against the wall." The 
scorpion said, God forbid that such sentiments as these 
should at any time of my life, pass through my mind ; or 
should ever have entered it. It is nothing more than this, 
that my nature impels me to use my sting ; whether the 
wound be on the back of a friend, or the bosom of a foe. 
/ r erses. — " To whomsoever there is a vicious habit, with- 
out design it will break forth from him: the scorpion will 
strike his sting upon a stone, although he has no power 
over it." 

The tortoise thought with herself thus : philosophers 
have said truly, that to cherish a base character, is to give 
one's own honour to the winds, and to lose the clue of 
one's own affairs. Couplet. — " To cast gold and jewels 
into the dirt, is not to be regretted; to shew favour and 
generosity to the worthless, maybe matter of regret." It 
is a saying of the ancients, that every one who has no 
nobility in his descent, hope has no portion in him; for 
it is unlawful to a corrupt offspring, that he should depart 
from the world, and not have done evil towards the 
society which had shown kindness toward him. Fragment. 
— Ci What way is it possible to educate one, vile in 
Origin i Why should a man bring up a snake in his 
Immisi ? Colocynth, by cultivation, will not yield the food 
of the sugar-cane. That man will never gather roses, 



83 

who entirely cultivates thorns." And upon the recital of 
these words, it must have crossed the brilliant mind of the 
king, that he ought to be apprehensive of the want of 
descent in Shanzabah, and of his baseness of caste. And 
it behoves him to listen, with the ear of prudence, to the 
advice of his affectionate servants : for he who does not 
pay attention to the words of his advisers, although they 
speak harshly and without courtesy, — the results of his 
proceedings, and the conclusions of his enterprises will 
not be clear of remorse and blame ; like a sick man, who 
looks with an eye of contempt upon the order of the 
physician, and takes meat and drink according to his 
inclination, — most certainly, languor and debility will every 
moment obtain greater power over him. Couplet. — " If 
he who gives advice has spoken from a motive of severity, 
what harm is there ? Patience is bitter, but it bears 
sweet fruit." 

And it is to be observed, that the weakest of princes is 
one, who is negligent of the consequences of affairs, and 
who despises the business of the kingdom ; who, when- 
ever any great event falls out, lays aside caution and cir- 
cumspection ; and who, after the opportunity is lost, and 
when the enemy is become successful, casts suspicion upon 
his own immediate servants, and transfers the matter to 
any one of them. Quatrain. — u The thought, which it 
behoves thee to take in thine own affairs ; wherefore 
shouldst thou leave it to another : and at a time, when in 
this manner, thou hast made a mistake ; why should it 
be thrown upon the neck of others." 

The lion said, Thou hast spoken words, right harsh ; 
and hast transgressed beyond the bounds of respect, yet 
the words of one who gives advice are not to be rejected 
for harshness, upon the supposition that Shanzalmh is my 
enemy, it is clear, what work he can do, and that accor- 
ding to events is food for me : for the source of all his 
activity has taken its existence from vegetables ; while the 

Bf 









84 

support of my strength is derived from flesh; and vegetable 
parts are always subdued by the animal. Nor do I make 
that degree of account of him, that the notion of resisting 
me should pass through his mind, or the mad idea of 
fighting with me should have settled in his dark thoughts. 
Couplet. — " When shall it occur to an opponent to boast 
of contending with one like me ? When shall a gnat be 
able to match against a raging elephant ?" 

And if Shanzabah, like the moon, should pretend to a 
comparison with the sun of my prosperity, which shines 
from the horizon of divine bounty, he will appear dimi- 
nished and deficient : if, like the sun, he draws the sword 
against the crescent on my imperial canopy, like the royal 
eagle, and which is a pattern of the canopy of heaven, in 
the end he will sink. Verses. — " The empty-handed, if 
he plays the rich man, is like a lame horse, which acts the 
part of one fit for the road : I have made that animal to 
bear his head so high ; I will again throw the noose upon 
his neck." 

Damanah said, The king should not be deluded by 
what he says, that he is my food, or, I can get the better 
of him: for if he is not able by his own nature to contend 
with you, he may advance his scheme by the assistance of 
a party of friends ; or else by fraud, hypocrisy, tales, and 
treachery, he may excite impressions. And I am afraid 
of this; that, when he has given the animals a desire of 
enmity to the king, (may it never be) they may breathe 
concord with him ; for a single person, however powerful 
and strong in body, will not succeed against a multitude. 
fragment. — " Gnats, when they are numerous, will assault 
an elephant, with all the valour and fierceness which belong 
to him: the little ants, when unanimous, will tear ofFthe 
skin from the raging lion." 

The lion said, Thy words have taken root in my heart, 
and 1 have perceived the sincerity of thy counsels ; but 
then this idea clings to me, that I have raised him; 



85 

I raised the standard of his strength and advancement, I 
have spoken his praises in meetings and assemblies, I have 
made the recital of his prudence and honesty, sincerity 
and integrity, to run over my tongue ; if, now, I admit 
the reverse of all this, I shall be characterized for breaking 
my word, levity of disposition, and weakness of judgment; 
and my words will be in abomination in all hearts, and 
my promise without value in all minds. Couplet. — " Any 
head, which thou thyself dost elevate, as long as thou art 
able, thou shalt not cast down from its place." 

Damanah said, A sound judgment, and a wise plan, is 
this, that as soon as enmity is evinced by a friend, or the 
pride of lordship is observed in a servant, men should 
instantly bring their affairs into order, and gather up the 
skirt from intimacy and society with such persons ; and 
before the enemy finds time for breakfast, they should 
make ready a supper for him. Although teeth are very 
early companions of a man, and a variety of advantages 
and benefits result to him from them, yet when one begins 
to ache, he cannot get relief from the pain but by pulling 
it out; and food, which replaces what is dissipated, and 
is the support of the material of life, when it becomes 
corrupt, in the bowels, one cannot get free of the mischief 
except by expelling it. Couplet. — " The man, by whom 
thy sorrow-stricken heart is not gladdened ; if truly he be 
like thy soul, give him up." 

These whisperings of Damanah had their effect upon 
the lion, and he said, I am disgusted with the society of 
Shanzabah ; and any further interview of me with him is 
of the number of impossibilities : this is the very best 
thing, that I should send some one to him, and make the 
whole state of the case clear, and give him leave to go 
wherever he likes. Damanah was afraid that if these 
words should reach Shanzabah, he would instantly make 
his innocency and gratitude clear; and that his own deceit 
and stratagem would come forth from the private chamber 



86 

of Becrecyj to the area of manifestation; so he said, O 
king ! this way is far from caution; and so long as a word 
has not been spoken, room for circumspection is still left; 
but after it has been published, the remedy is beyond the 
limits of our power. Couplet. — " The word, whilst thou 
hast not spoken it, thou hast the power to speak; but 
thou canst not again conceal the word which has once 
been spoken." 

The word which has passed the lips, and the arrow that 
has left the bow, neither will that come again within our 
power, nor this return to the aiming point; and it occurs 
among proverbs, that whatever comes to the tongue goes 
to waste. And one of the ancients has said, the tongue 
is the interpreter of the heart; the heart is the lord of the 
dominion of the body ; and language is the spreader forth 
of the jewels of the treasury of existence: so long as the 
door of the casket of speech is closed with the fastening 
of silence ; and the seal of silence is fixed upon the top of 
the casket of discourse ; all the sweet herbs of peace will 
grow in the garden of existence, and the shrub of life will 
yield all the fruits of security and repose ; but when the 
rose bush of eloquence expands its smiling leaves, and the 
nightingale of oratory begins to warble, no one can be 
safe; for the odours of the garden of discourse will be a 
means to refresh the heart and strengthen the brain, or 
the cause of defluxion of the juices of the brain, and bring 
on a headache ; for tongues which were bound, have, by 
one fascinating piece of wit, loosened many difficult knots ; 
but words, producing mischief, have, by one untimely 
bint, bound the neck of the speaker in heavy bonds. 
Fragment.— " II' you will look with an eye of discretion 
upon speech, it is a stock in trade, which produces both 
profit and loss : and the proof to be given is this, that a 
witty thing, not said before, may distress a man by vex- 
ation of heart, or give him life ; but it is often that the 



87 

ambush of a word gives the speaker to the winds, in the 
moment that lie brings it to his tongue." 

O king! if these words should reach Shanzabah, and 
he should discover the nature of his situation ; and he 
shall clearly perceive his degradation, it is possible that he 
may venture upon haughtiness, and begin to fight, or 
cause strife. Men of caution have not deemed secret 
punishment suitable to an open offence ; nor approved of 
public punishment for secret crimes: the safest way is to 
follow up his concealed offences, with private chastisement. 
The lion replied, To remove or to banish my nearest 
friends, upon a bare suspicion, and to destroy all their 
claims, without any appearance of certainty, would be, 
with my own hands to strike a hatchet on my own foot ; 
it would be to wander on a sudden from the path of 
generosity, and from the highway of integrity. Fragment. 
— " It would not be agreeable to law or reason, that the 
king should give a commandment without full proof, for 
his edict is like a decree of destiny ; sometimes it takes 
away life, and sometimes gives it." 

There is no better evidence to men possessed of autho- 
rity, than their own sagacity. When this deceitful traitor 
shall appear, let the king regard him with a look of pene- 
tration ; for the baseness of his principles will be evident 
in a disagreeable aspect; and the vilencss of his intentions 
in an angry countenance: and a sure sign of the crooked- 
ness of his mind is this, that he will advance, changing 
colour, and agitated ; and will look about, right and left, 
before and behind ; and that he will have made ready for 
battle, and will have gathered himself up for resistance. 
The lion said, Thou sayest truly; and if anything of these 
signs should happen to be observed, then certainly, the 
dust of doubt will be removed from the path of conviction ; 
and the unsteadiness of suspicion will be changed for a 
ground of certainty. 

When Damanah felt that, by his strife-making breath, 






88 

the fire of evil had begun to blaze on the other side, he 
wanted to go and see the ox, that on his part, too, he 
might kindle the fire of mischief. Couplet. — " A quarrel 
between two people is like fire ; an ill-disposed talebearer 
is one who brings the fuel." He considered that his seeing 
Shanzabah, ought still to be by the order and with the 
advice of the lien ; that he might keep clear of all evil 
surmise. So he said, O king ! if the sublime command 
should find the honour of promulgation, I may as well 
see Shanzabah ; and having ascertained something of the 
hidden things of his mind, and the stores of his heart, 
I will report it. The lion gave him leave ; and, like one 
struck by sorrow, and fallen into misfortune, went unto 
Shanzabah, and fulfilled all the conditions of respect and 
courtesy. Shanzabah, too, displaying that reverence which 
was suitable to the occasion, began great civility and 
flattery, and said, O Damanah ! Verses. — " Bear in 
mind, that remembrance of me does not occur to thee. 
It is many days that thou hast not enlightened the sight 
of thy friends with the rays of thy beauty ; nor hast con- 
verted the cottage of the friends into a flower garden, with 
the blossoms of the shrubs of endearment and society." 
Couplet. — " For ages thou dost not one moment remem- 
ber that friend; who is unable for an instant not to think 
of thee ?" 

Damanah replied, If in outward appearance I have been 
deprived of the honour of visiting you ; yet in soul and 
spirit I have perpetually kept company with the imagina- 
tion of thy heart-expanding beauty; and have constantly 
been sowing the seed of love and affection in the ground 
of my heart. Couplet. — "I have pierced windows from 
my heart to my soul ; unknown to thee, I have used 
many blandishments with thee." 

And in the cell of retirement, and the corner of solitude, 

I have been engaged in the daily duties of prayers and 

h as may be the cause of an increase of 



89 

prosperity and happiness ; and so shall it ever be. The ox 
said, What is the reason of sueh retirement ? Damanah 
replied, When a man cannot be master of his own will, 
but is captive to the authority of another ; when he cannot 
draw a single respiration without fear and dread ; when 
one moment does not pass, that a man is not fearing and 
trembling about his soul and body ; and a single word 
cannot escape him without alarm and terror; why should 
he not choose the corner of his hut and close the door of 
retirement in the face of friends and strangers ? Quatrain. 
— " From the strife of this mischief-making age, arise, 
and flee, wherever thou canst ; and if thou hast not a 
foot of flight, at least, put forth the hand, and cling to 
the mantle of solitude. The ox said, O Damanah ! set 
forth language more clear than this ; and relate the details 
of this concise remark, that the benefits of thy advice may 
be more general, and the advantage of thy discourse more 
complete. Damanah said, There are six things in this 
world, which are not possible without six other things: 
viz. worldly wealth, without pride and subserviency ; lust, 
without difficulty ; intercourse with women, without 
calamity ; a desire for indulgence, without disgrace ; 
fellowship with the wicked, without remorse ; and the 
service of a king, without misfortune. They never give 
any one a draught from the wine-cellar of the world, that 
he does not get intoxicated and audacious ; and that he 
does not raise the head of sin from the collar of haughti- 
ness, and pride ; a man does not move a step in pursuit 
of lust, that he does not fall into an occasion of destruc- 
tion, and no man can associate with women, that he is 
not overcome by all sorts of contention; no person can 
take up intercourse with vicious people, who make dis- 
turbances, that in the end of the matter shame does not 
produce its fruits; nor does any one fix his expectations 
on the low and base, that he does not become vile 
and worthless: and no man ever sought the society of a 



90 

king, that he ever escaped in safety from that voracious 
pathless desert. Verses. — " The society of a king, upon 
grounds of analogy, consider like an ocean without a shore; 
to such an ocean, full of fear and danger, he who is 
nearest is most wretched." And upon this subject, they 
have said, Couplet. — ft There are countless gains in the 
sea : but if you wish for peace, it is on shore." 

Shanzabah said, Your words afford a demonstration of 
this, that something offensive on the part of the lion has 
befallen you; and that some fear and dread of his terrible- 
ness has overwhelmed you. Damanah replied, I do not 
say these things so much out of regard to myself; and am 
not melancholy for my own sake ; but rather give greater 
weight, in this matter, to the part of my friends, than to 
my own part : for all this grief and dejection which have 
overcome me, is for thee i thou knowest the early ties of 
unanimity, the former bonds of affection between me and 
thee, of what kind they have been ; and those vows and 
promises which, at the first, we made, most of them have 
at this end finished in fulfilment; and I have no alternative 
but this, to have the honour of reporting whatever may 
have occurred of good and evil, of advantage or injury. 
Shanzabah trembled all over, and said, My kind ally and 
affectionate friend, make me quickly acquainted with the 
truth of the case ; and do not neglect any article of the 
minute points of attachment and sincerity. Damanah 
said, I have heard from one to be relied upon, that the 
lion has made it flow over his august tongue, that Shan- 
zabah is got excessively fat, and there is not the least 
occasion for him at this court; his loss and his presence 
are on an equality ; I will make an entertainment for the 
beasts with his Mesh; and in one day, I will prepare of his 
body a private meal, and a public banquet. When I 
heard these words, as I have observed his impetuosity 
and arrogance, I came here, that having given you 
warning, I may confirm my promise by a proof; and that 



91 

I may discharge whatever in the law of manly feeling, or 
in the rules of honour and generosity, may be incumbent 
on me. Couplet, — " I will relate to thee all that belongs 
to the conditions of strict duty ; take thou either advice 
from my words, or take thou offence." At present, the 
expediency of the time, I find to be in this; that thou 
consider of some plan ; that thou set thy face with all 
celerity to some remedy, and draw out the business to 
some length. Perhaps by a stratagem, escape from this 
labyrinth may present itself; and that by a refinement, 
deliverance from this pit of destruction may give you 
help. 

When Shanzabah heard the words of Damanah, and 
revolved in his mind the vows and engagements of the 
lion, he said, It is impossible, Damanah, that the lion 
should show jealousy towards me ; whilst on my part no 
treason has appeared ; and the foot of my constancy has 
never slipped from the road of good services : and yet, 
as regards thy words, too, I have a belief of their truth, 
and an opinion of their good meaning, It is most 
probable that they have spread many falsehoods against 
me, and have led him to this stage of anger by artifice 
and deceit : for there is a worthless party in his service, 
each an illustrious master in telling talcs, saucy and in- 
solent in treachery and violence : and these men he has 
often tried, and observed the variety of their treacheries 
and wicked doings ; and therefore, whatever of the same 
sort he hears with respect to others, he believes it, and 
applies analogy to it: for of a truth, by the contagion of 
the society of the wicked, evil thoughts arise with regard 
to the virtuous ; and by this wrong opinion, the path of 
right is concealed. The fate of the duck, and his error 
of experience, is sufficient evidence to this effect, and is a 
full direction to this state of things. 

Damanah enquired what that might be? and Shanzabah 
told this 



92 

Story. 

A duck saw the light of the moon in the water, and 
thought it was a fish ; he aimed at it, to seize it, but got 
nothing, and in this manner he several times made the 
experiment ; and when he saw that his profit by that sport 
was the same as the profit of a thirsty man who looks at 
the vapour of the desert, or the gains of poor men 
thinking of treasures, from searching through desolate 
habitations, he entirely abandoned the pursuit of fish, and 
all at once neglected his proper occupation. On the follow- 
ing night, whenever he saw a fish he thought it was the 
brightness of the moon, and would not attack it, nor be 
in any way mindful of it ; but would say. Verse. — 
"He who tries what has been tried, confusion will 
surround him. " So the fruit of his experience was this ; 
that he used to be always hungry, and to pass his days 
without food and sustenance. And if they have made the 
lion listen to any thing about me, by the rule, that he 
who listens is alienated, some disgust will have arisen in 
his mind, and he will have held it for true ; and his 
motive will have been his very experience of others : 
while the fact is, that from me to others, there is as much 
difference, as from brilliant day to dark night, from the 
lofty dome to the low centre. Couplets, — " Do not judge 
the case of the virtuous from thyself; although, in writing, 
lion and milk arc the same : both kinds of flics cat from 
the same place ; from the one came a sting, from the 
Other honey : both kinds of deer feed on the same grass 
and water ; from the one comes blood, and from the other 
pure musk." 

Damanah said, Perhaps the aversion of the lion may 
not be from this cause, but rather from this, that it is 
a habit with princes, that, without any just claim, they 
w ill distinguish one man by high advancement, and another 
who is one of just pretensions, they will make an object 
of ruin and plunder. Verses. — "Thekingof Iloomilz never 



93 

saw me, and without a word did me a hundred favours : 
the king of Yazd saw me, I repeated his praise, and he 
gave me nothing : Such is the practice of kings. Thou, 
O Hafiz, fret not ; may the Lord, who sends food to all, 
give them their help and assistance." 

Shanzabah said, If this aversion, which you reported 
to me of the lion, is without cause, then by no help can 
the foot of steadfastness measure the road of stability, nor 
can the eye of hope behold the countenance of our desires; 
for if there be any motive for anger, one can obviate it by 
pacifying or apologizing ; but if, God protect us ! there 
be no motive for it, or if by imposture and calumny they 
have given a change to his temper, remedy will fall short of 
it, and the thought of providing against it be insufficient; 
since there is no apparent measure to falsehood and slander, 
nor any certain limit to deceit and fraud. Now, in all that 
has occurred between me and the lion, I do not perceive 
any offence in myself, except this ; that in judgment and 
deliberation, on some points, even for his advantage, I have 
differed from him; and in preparing and advancing his 
designs, I may occasionally, according to the exigency of 
the time, have said something not suitable to his pleasure: 
he may, perhaps, have charged this to boldness and dis- 
respect, and have reckoned it as a species of audacity and 
saucy familiarity ; yet not one of these things which have 
proceeded from me, has been devoid of general advantage; 
and with all this, shewing a regard for his dignity and 
awfulness, I have not upon the whole shown any insolence, 
but have fulfilled all the conditions of reverence and deep 
respect : so, how can it possibly be supposed that affec- 
tionate advice can be a cause of alarm; or faithful services 
become a motive to enmity. Couplet. — " Medicine has 
been a cause of illness, so here what hope is there of the 
disorder passing away, or of the health of the sick man ?" 
And if it be not also this, it is possible that the pride of 
power, and the independent feeling of dominion, may have 



94 

been the inducement with him to be offended with me; 
for it is a requisite of haughtiness, and the demand of 
greatness, that they are naturally averse to those who give 
them advice, and give honour, by their confidence, to the 
treacherous and to flatterers. And hence it is, that the 
learned have said, to dive with a crocodile to the bottom 
of the river, or to suck drops of poison from the lips of a 
snake whose tail is cut off, is nearer to safety than the 
service of a king ; and is better and much more for safety 
and quiet than advancement with princes. I had learnt 
that the perils of serving kings are many, and that the 
evils of engaging in their affairs are countless. And some 
of the masters of philosophy have compared kings to fire; 
for though a ray of favour may give light to the dark 
cottage of those who live on hopes, yet by the flame of 
punishment he also consumes the granary of the ancient 
claims of his servants: and sound prudence agrees to this, 
that whoever is nearest to the fire, his injury is the greatest. 
While that class who, from a distance, enjoying the sight 
of this fire, are ignorant of its conflagration, have a fancy 
of some great delight, and a notion of some great advan- 
tages in obtaining a near approach to monarchs; while in 
truth it is not at all so : for if they should get a right 
apprehension of princely severity, and of royal dread and 
awe, it would be clear to them that a thousand years of 
favour are not equal to one hour of punishment. And a 
corroboration of this, is the tale of the dispute between the 
hawk and the domestic fowl. 

Damanah desiring to hear it, Shanzabah related this 

Story. 

A sporting hawk once fell into an argument with a 
domestic fowl, and beginning a contest with her, said, 
Thou art a most faithless and false bird : whilst the in- 
scription on the page of good morals is fidelity; although 
fidelity, by the purport of this passage — verily, the perfec- 
tion of a promise is a part of the faith — is a proof of 



95 

perfection in religion. And generosity and manly virtue 
also require that a man should not inscribe the page of his 
fortune with the character of infidelity. Couplet. — " The 
dog, in whom there is gratitude for a bit of roast meat, is 
better than that man in whom there is no gratitude." 
The hen replied, What ingratitude hast thou seen in me ; 
and what breach of duty hast thou observed? The hawk 
said, The sign of thy ingratitude is this, that, together 
with all this, that men shew so much indulgence in thy 
behalf; and that without any trouble or exertions of thine, 
they provide water and corn, from which the material of 
life receives support ; that, day and night, being well aware 
of thy condition, they persevere in guarding and watching 
thee ; and that by their power thou hast thy board and 
lodging ; yet whenever they are inclined to catch thee, 
fleeing before and behind them, thou goest flying from 
roof to roof, and running from corner to corner. Couplet. 
— " Thou dost not acknowledge the rights of salt ; and 
art frightened at thy benefactor." 

Whilst I, although I be a wild animal, if I form an 
attachment, tho' for two or three days, and eat my food 
from their hand, attentive to the claims of this, I pursue 
the game, and give it to them ; and how far soever I may 
have gone, at the slightest sound that I hear, I come fly- 
ing back. Couplet. — " The bird that is taught on the 
hand, how far soever they may throw him, comes back 
with joyful wing, as soon as they say, come here." 

The hen answered, Thou sayest right. Thy coming 
back, and my running away, are from this ; that thou 
hast never seen a hawk roasted on a spit ; but I have seen 
many a fowl broiling on a pan. If thou too hadst seen 
this, certainly thou wouldest not hover about them ; but 
while I flee from roof to roof, thou wouldest be fleeing 
from hill to hill. And I have produced this example for 
this, that thou mayest know, that the class, who seek the 
society of kings, have no knowledge of their severity; for 



96 

whoever has seen the effects of their severity, has neither 
am knowledge of tranquility nor any impression of repose. 
Couplet. — " To those who are nearest, there is the greatest 
consternation ; for they comprehend royal severity." 

To which Damanah replied, It is not likely that the 
lion should, hecause of his imperial grandeur, his pomp 
and good fortune, make such reflections with regard to 
thee ; for thou hast many talents, and innumerable ac- 
complishments ; and princes are not at any time above 
the want of persons of talent. Shanzabah said, Perhaps 
my talents may have been the cause of his aversion : for 
to a horse of swift paces, his talent becomes a cause of 
ill usage ; and to a fruitful tree, because of its fruit, the 
head and branches are broken ; the nightingale, for his 
very talent, is confined, in the prison of a cage; and the 
peacock, for his elegance and beauty, is plucked of his 
wings and feathers, and disgraced. Fragment. — "All 
my knowledge is become a calamity to me ; like his fur to 
the fox, and his feathers to the peacock ; my talents are 
become my faults ; or else to my head, not of dust, but 
of gems w T ould have been the diadem." 

And to be sure, since men without merit are more 
numerous than people of merit, and that an inherent 
animosity exists between them ; getting advantage by their 
number, they go to such lengths in degrading the position 
of the meritorious, that setting forth all their doings, 
active and passive, in the garb of offence, they represent 
integrity in the shape of treachery, and honesty in the 
dress of baseness : and they convert that very merit, which 
is a cause of prosperity, and a means of happiness, into a 
matter of misery and a means of disgrace. Couplet. — 
"The eye of the malevolent, may it be plucked out; 
merit appears a delect in his sight." And an eminent 
man has said, on this subject. Couplets. — " If any virtue 
bursts out in the midst, some worthless fellow lays his 
vile hand upon it; they bring the affairs of a virtuous 



97 

man to ruin, while they bring his virtues into contempt." 
And they have said, in describing the injustice of those 
who look out for faults. Verses. — " The eye of equity, 
when it is clear-sighted, counts pearls when they are but 
glass beads ; the practice of great men, is equity of conduct; 
but the practice of the mean is nothing but biting and 
scratching ; and he who has not a heart susceptible of 
pity, casts an imputation of woollen upon silk.'" 

Damanah said, It is possible that evil-minded persons 
may have made this attempt ; according to that disposi- 
tion of fate, what may be the course of your conduct ? 
Shanzabah said, If my destiny be not in accordance with 
it, no injury whatever will come from it, into the limits of 
existence. But if the Divine decree, and the predestina- 
tion of God shall shew conformity with their fraud and 
deceit, it will not be possible nor within my power to 
avert it by any stratagem. Verse. — " When destiny 
goes before, of what avail is contrivance ?" 

Damanah said, A prudent man ought, in all circum- 
stances, to make extensive forethought the forerunner of 
his proceedings ; for no man ever laid the foundation of 
his conduct upon prudence, who did not obtain success 
over his desires. Shanzabah answered thus, Prudence 
may be of use, when fate shall not have made a decree to 
the contrary of it ; and stratagem will produce advantage, 
at a time when fate does not run in opposition to it : but 
while there exists an ordinance of destiny, neither remedy 
helps, nor stratagem yields advantage ; escape from the 
fetters of fate or the prison of destiny, by stratagem and 
contrivance, is not to be contemplated by any man. 
Couplet. — " That fire, which the hand of fate kindled, 
burnt up every thought and plan." 

And when the great and glorious creator shall bring 
any decree, with the probe of carelessness, lie makes the 
sight of the vigilant dark and confused ; so that the way 
of escape from that decree becomes hidden before them : 



98 

" when fate comes, perception is blinded," Couplet. — 
" At the moment of the execution of fate and destiny, 
they make the cunning blind and deaf." But perhaps 
thou hast never heard the story of the villager and the 
nightingale, and their disputation. So, at the desire of 
Damanah, he related the 

Story. 

They have related, that a villager had a garden, sweet 
and joyful; and a field of flowers, fresher than the rose- 
beds of Irani ; the air of it might give due temperature 
to the breezes of spring, and the odour of its exhilirating 
herbs would perfume the brain of the soul. Verses. — 
" It was a bed of roses, like the flower garden of youth ; 
a field of flowers, well-watered with the water of life ; the 
notes of its nightingales exciting enjoyment, and its 
gales spreading odours, bringing repose." 

And in one corner of the plantation there was a rose- 
bush, fresher than the shrub of prosperity ; more splen- 
did than the branches of the tree of enjoyment. Every 
morning there used to blossom on it a flower, painted 
like the cheeks of heart-alluring damsels of delicate minds, 
or the complexion of jasmine-bosomed, lily-scented 
maids ; and the gardener, falling into raptures with that 
beautiful flower, would exclaim, Couplet. — " I know 
not what the rose whispers, but between ,her lips, that 
she brings the silent nightingale again into lamentation." 

The gardener, coming one day, according to his estab- 
lished custom, to amuse himself with the rose, saw a 
nightingale complaining, who was rubbing his face among 
the leaves of the rose, and with his sharp bill was tearing 
to bits the sewing of its golden binding. Couplet. — 
" The nightingale, if he looks upon the rose, grows in- 
toxicated ; and the end of the clue of free will goes from 
his hand." 

The gardener, observing the dispersion of the leaves of 
the rose, rent the collar of patience with the hand of 



99 

agitation, and hung the mantle of his heart upon the soul- 
piercing thorns of uneasiness. Next day the same 
circumstance took place ; and the flame of separation 
from the flower. Verse. — w Laid another scar upon his 
former scar. And on the third day again, by the work 
of the beak of the bird." Verse, — " The flower was 
plundered, but the thorn was left." 

This affliction being excited by the nightingale in the 
heart of the villager, he laid the snare of deception in his 
way, caught him with the grain of stratagem, and con- 
fined him in the prison of a cage. The heartless night- 
ingale opened his mouth, like a parrot, and said, Worthy 
sir, for what reason hast thou confined me ? for what cause 
art thou inclined to punish me ? If thou hast formed 
this plan for the sake of hearing my songs, truly my nest 
is in thy garden ; and every morning my music gallery is 
on all sides of the rose-beds. But if thou hast allowed 
any other purpose to pass through thy fancy, give me 
information of what is in thy mind. The gardener said, 
Couplet. — " How long wilt thou vex me ? O Lord ! 
mayest thou no longer live, O rival ; how long wilt thou 
conceal her face ? O Lord ! mayest thou be removed, 
O veil." Dost thou at all know what thou hast done to 
my fortune, and how frequently thou hast distressed me 
by a separation from my lovely friends ; the just return 
for such conduct, in the way of retribution, may be 
exactly this, — that thou art left separated from friends and 
country, art parted from enjoyment and pleasure, and dost 
weep in the corner of a prison ; for I also am oppressed 
with separation, and am lamenting in the hut of sorrow. 
Couplet. — " Weep, O nightingale, if there is to thee, with 
me, any thought of love ; for we are two afflicted lovers, 
and our business is grief." 

The nightingale said, Depart from this thought, and 
reflect, if I for this extent of crime, that I have torn a 
rose, am become a prisoner, thou, who dost tear a heart, 

o 



100 

what thy state shall he. Verses. — " The revolving sphere, 
upon principles of analogy, is over mindful of right : who- 
ever does good, the same hefals him ; and if he has done 
evil, mischief will reach him." 

These words were effectual on the mind of the villager, 
and he liberated the nightingale. The bird then loosen- 
ing his tongue in freedom, said, Since thou hast done a 
kindness to me, certainly, in obedience to " is there then 
any recompence for generosity, except generosity ?" 
Some compensation must be made : know that under the 
earth of the tree, where thou art standing, there is a dish 
full of gold ; take it up, and make use of it in thy wants. 
The villager dug up the place, and found the words of the 
nightingale correct. He said, It is a wonder, O nightin- 
gale, that thou seest a dish beneath the earth, and didst 
not perceive the snare under the dust. The nightingale 
replied, Thou hast not learnt that " when destiny alights, 
caution is vain." Verse. — " No one can contend against 
what is ordained. When a divine decree receives the 
dignity of descent, neither light remains to the eye of 
perception, nor do contrivance and prudence produce 
advantage." Verses. — " Twist not back, with the list, the 
hand of fate, for hand has no power for any thing ; cau- 
tion is of no avail against destiny; whatever proceeds 
from fate, approve of that." 

Which fable I have related for this purpose, that it 
may be understood that I am no match for the hand of 
destiny and fate; nor have I any remedy but to lay the 
head of resignation on the line of the divine command- 
ment. ( 'ouplet. — " The end of all my attachment is the 
threshold of the Lord, who loves me ; for all that passes 
over my head, is his design." 

Damanah rejoined, Shanzabah, all that I have learnt 
of a certainty, or have definitely understood, is this, that 
whatever the lion may have imagined about thee, is 
neither because of the calumny of enemies, nor the 



i 



101 

abundance of thy merits, nor the ill-temper of kings ; but 
it is rather the height of treachery and falsehood, which 
has impelled him to it ; for he is a prosperous tyrant, an 
ill-tempered deceiver, and a hypocrite ; the beginning of 
his acquaintance bestow the sweetness of life ; but the 
conclusions of his service have the bitterness of death. 
You should form to yourself the idea, that he is a painted 
venomous snake ; his exterior adorned with many spots 
of various colours ; and his interior, provided with deadly 
poison, against which no antidote is beneficial. Couplet. 
— " He is all fraud, hypocrisy, cunning, and delusion ; 
neither honesty nor honour — neither patience nor for- 
bearance. " 

Shanzabah said, I have tasted the food of the honey 
of favour ; now is the season for the wound of the sting : 
a long period I have passed in pleasure and ease — now is 
the time for the assault of trouble and sorrow. Couplet. 
— " My heart, for a while, thou didst taste the flavour of 
union : now thou must see the grief of separation." 

And in truth it is the angel of death which seized me 
by the collar, and brought me into this wilderness ; for 
otherwise, how was I suitable to society with the lion ? 
A person who feeds upon me, and to whom I am food ; 
it must have been, that, with a thousand snares, he would 
not be able to draw me towards him, nor to throw me, by 
a hundred thousand stratagems, into the trap of his fami- 
liarity. Couplet. — " Who am I, that the good fortune of 
a union with him should be my ambition ? This, that I 
still behold him at a distance, is it not enough for me ?" 

But the divine determination, and the flattering voice 
of Damanah, have cast me into this pathless desert of 
destruction : and now the hand of management falls short 
of the skirt of remedy ; and the course of my purposes, 
because of the neglect of prudence aforethought, is not 
according to my heart's desire : and I, by reason of vain 
wishes and corrupt fancies, have kindled such a fire as 






102 

this for myself; and whilst the smoke has not yet come 
before me, I am burnt with the flame of grief, and the 
heat of melancholy ? Verse. — " How shall I act ? I 
have done it myself. What remedy is there for one's 
own deeds ?" And the ancients have said, Whosoever is 
not content with a bare competency of worldly riches, 
but pursues a superfluity, is a likeness of that person who 
arrives at a hill of diamonds, and his sight falls each mo- 
ment on a larger piece ; and forming a notion of the 
vastness of its price, he goes forwards till he reaches the 
place, where the object of search falls into his hands : but 
then his return will be impracticable, because the broken 
pieces of the diamonds will have cut and scratched his feet ; 
but that forgetful man, being absorbed in the thought of 
covetousness, has no knowledge of the circumstauce ; and 
therefore, in the utmost regret, coming to destruction on 
that mountain, he takes up his abode in the stomach of 
the birds. Couplet. — " From excess of pursuit, thy 
affairs are brought to ruin ; if thou desirest profit, seek not 
excess beyond due measure." 

Dam an ah observed, Thou hast here said words, very 
much to be admired ; for every calamity which befals a 
man, the source of it will be avarice and desire. Couplet. 
" Depart from coveting, for it is an affliction to the soul 
and the heart : he who covets is, in all places, and by all 
people, despised." 

The neck that is bound in the chain of covetousness, is 
ultimately cut through by the sword of disgrace ; and the 
head, in which the folly of avarice has fixed itself, in the 
end, will be rubbed in the dust of ignominy. There is 
many a man, who from excess of covetousness and ava- 
rice, with the hope of prosperity, has fallen into the 
trackless wilds of misery ; and upon the scent of gain, has 
been caught in a disastrous place of injury : just as the 
huntsman had a desire to seize the skin of the fox, and 
the paw of the leopard tore the life out of his bodv. 



103 

Shanzabah asked how that happened, and Damanah 
said, — 

Story. 

A huntsman was passing one day through the desert, 
he saw a fox, extremely brisk and active, who was roam- 
ing about in the open space of the plain, and playing his 
tricks, was exhibiting himself on every side. His skin 
being pleasing to the huntsman, he formed the idea of 
selling it for a great price ; and his covetous faculty set 
him upon this, that keeping upon the traces of the fox, 
he found out his hole. So digging a pit near the hole, 
and covering it with sticks and rubbish, he laid out a dead 
animal on the top of it, and silting down in ambush, he 
kept waiting; for the capture of the fox. It chanced that 
the fox came out of his hole, and the scent of the carcase 
attracting him, gradually led him to the edge of the pit. 
He said to himself, although by the smell of this carcase, 
the brain of desire is perfumed, yet an odour of danger also 
comes to the palate of caution : and the wise have never 
exposed themselves to an affair, winch may bear a proba- 
bility of danger, nor have entered upon an undertaking, 
in which the possibility of mischief is to be anticipated. 
Couplet — " Wheresoever they draw a line of difficulty, 
take pains to keep without line." 

And though it be possible that some dead animal may 
be here, yet this is also possible, that they may have 
arranged some snare beneath it ; and at all events caution 
is best. Fragment. — (i When two affairs present them- 
selves to thee, that thou canst not tell which ought to be 
done, that in which there is a supposition of danger, 
that must be made unlawful to thee; and that which may 
be without fear and danger, upon that exactly thou 
shouldst be stedfast." 

So the fox, making these reflections, went off from the 
thought of that meat, and followed the path of safety. 
In the meantime, a hungry leopard, came down from the 



104 

mountain, and at the smell of the dead body flung 
himself on the pit. The huntsman, when he heard the 
noise of the trap, and the sound of the fall of the 
animal, imagined it to be the fox. In the excess of 
covetousness, without the least deliberation, he threw 
himself after him ; and the leopard, under the notion that 
he would prevent him from eating the body, jumped up, 
and tore open his belly. The greedy huntsman, by the 
baseness of avarice, fell into the snare of destruction ; and 
the abstemious fox, by casting off covetousness, found 
escape from the labyrinth of misfortune. And the use of 
the fable is this, that the evil of covetousness, and the 
trouble of excess in pursuit of gain, will make a free man 
a slave, and a slave more abject. Couplet, — u If thou 
couldest gain one lock of hair, beyond what belongs to 
thy head ; by the dust of the feet of the holy, it would 
give a head ache." 

Shanzabah said, I committed an error ; that, at first, 
I chose the service of the lion, and did not consider that 
he docs not know the value of services. For they have 
said, that to associate with a person who does not acknow- 
ledge the worth of it, or to serve any one who does not know 
the value of it, is parallel to this ; that a man, in hopes 
of a crop, should scatter seed in a salt land, or whisper 
about his sorrows and his joys, into the ear of one deaf 
when his mother bore him, or write fresh and lively odes 
on the surface of running water, make love to the pictures 
in a bath, or hope for a shower of rain from the dust of 
a whirlwind. Fragment, — " To expect constancy in a 
king, would be much the same, as to look for fruit, on 
the branches of the black cypress: a plant of the willow 
will not yield thee the sugar of the cane, although thou 
give it, a thousand times, water from the river of immor- 
tality." 

Damanah said, Have done with such words, and 
pursue the remedy for thy affairs. Shanzabah replied, 



105 

What help can I call forth, what device can I bring for- 
ward ? For I have learnt all the moral qualities of the 
lion ; and my own sagacity comes to this conclusion, 
that the lion wishes nothing but what is good and well, 
with respect to me ; but his intimate adherents are 
labouring in my ruin, and are making great exertions for 
my downfal. And if it be so, the turn of the beam of 
the balance of my li^e inclines more to the scale of extinc- 
tion, than to the scale of continuance : for treacherous 
oppressors, and deceitful tyrants, when, setting their backs 
together, they join hand in hand, and with one accord 
make an attack on any one, in every case they cast him 
down, just as the wolf, the raven, and the jackal!, formed 
a design against the camel ; and, by acting together, over- 
came him, and attained their object and their wishes. 

Damanah asked how that was ? 

Story. 

They have related that a black-eyed raven, a sharp 
clawed wolf, and a jackall full of deceit, were in the 
service of a hunting lion ; and their forest was near the 
public high road. The camel of a certain merchant had 
sunk down in that neighbourhood, and after some time, 
picking up strength, went about, on every side, seeking 
for pasture. His way fell across the forest ; and v\hen he 
came near the lion, he saw no alternative but service and 
reverence. The lion, too, bestowing caresses on him, 
enquired into the particulars of his fortune ; and after 
receiving information about that, put some questions about 
his abode and occupation. Couplet. — " Hitherto, if I 
have had any free will in my conduct ; when I beheld thee 
the reins of free will fell into my hand." 

Whatsoever your majesty may ordain will, no doubt, 
involve the good of your servants. f'crsc. — "Thou 
knowest what is good for us, better than we do." The 
lion said, If thou hast any desire, remain happy and safe 
in my society. The camel was delighted, and passed his 



100 

time in the forest ; and so, when a long time had passed, 
he became extremely fat. 

One day the lion had gone out in search of game ; and 
a raging elephant falling in with him. a stout battle and 
a fierce conflict took place between them ; several wounds 
befalling the lion, he came back to the forest, yelling aud 
lacerated ; and lay down in a corner. The wolf, the raven, 
and the jackall, who by thrusting themselves in used to 
pick their bits from the table of his bounty, were left 
without means of support ; and so, from the natural 
generosity of the lion, and from that simple kindness which 
princes have for their servants and officers, when he saw 
them in that condition, lie was affected, and said, your 
troubles be harder upon me than my own pains ; if you 
can get hold of any head of game in this vicinity, I will 
go out, and having settled the business for you, will come 
back. So they, leaving the presence of the lion went 
into a corner, introducing the oath of consultation between 
them, they said, What is the good to us of this camel's 
staying in this forest? there is neither any advantage to 
the king from him, nor have we any attachment to him ; 
we ought to put the lion up to crushing him ; and so for 
two or three days the king will have rest from the search 
after a morsel and a bit of food ; and to us also, according 
to our condition, some advantage will accrue. The jackall 
said, Do not turn yourselves about this fancy. The lion 
has given him security, and taken him into his service ; 
and whoever shall give a king a desire for treachery, or 
encourage him to break an engagement, will have com- 
mitted treason ; and a traitor is, under all circumstances, 
shunned; and God and man are displeased with him. 
/ Vr.vr.v. — " Every man, in whom there is any scheme of 
treacherousness, his religion is devoid of integrity and 
probity; the sterling value of a man is by his probity, 
and the base coin of mankind is by treachery." The 
raven said, We might think of some stratagem in this 



107 

matter, and might extricate the lion from the obligations 
of his engagement : Do you watch in this place, while I 
go and come back again. So he came before the lion and 
stood still. The lion enquired, Have you traced any 
game ? have you brought tidings of any prey ? The raven 
answered, O king ! our eyes, from hunger, will not do 
their office to any one of us, and the faculty of motion, too, 
is not left ; but a method is come into my mind, to which, 
if the king shall give his approbation, to all of us great 
comfort and sufficient plenty will be obtained. The lion 
desired him to unfold the meaning of these words, that 
comprehension might fall upon the particulars of the case. 
The raven said, This camel is a foreigner among us, and 
there is not any advantage to be contemplated from him 
in society ; he is a prey for the haste of the occasion, 
which is come into our hands ; a head of game fallen into 
the snare. The lion got in a passion and said, Dust be 
upon the head of the fellows of this age, for they have 
nothing but a practice of hypocrisy and a habit of trea- 
chery ; and they altogether abandon the path of kindness, 
liberality, and manly sentiments. Verses. — " In the 
people of this age, to whom fidelity is not dear, seek not 
faithfulness, for except violence, nothing is their practice ; 
a dog is better than those dumb cats, who, with their 
stratagems, hunt after nothing, but around the dinner 
table. In what sect is a breach of promise allowed ? In 
what religion would it be tolerated to form a design against 
the person, to whom yourself have given refuge? Couplet. 
— " Any strong branch which, by thee, is grown tall ; do 
not break it by thine own hand, for that also is to break 
thyself." 

The raven replied, I understand all these principles ; 
but then, philosophers have said that, an individual may 
be made a victim for a whole house ; that a household 
may be made a sacrifice for a whole tribe ; a tribe for a 
whole city; and the inhabitants of a city may be sacrificed 




108 

for the august person of a king who is in danger, since 
by liis preservation a benefit may be conferred upon the 
inhabitants of a whole region of the earth. And besides, 
some clear way may be found for breaking this engage- 
ment; so that he who made the promise, may be free from 
the cjuality of treachery, and his mind be preserved from 
the pains of a sting, and the danger of starving. The lion 
hung down his head, and the raven came back and said to 
his friends, I have laid the case before the lion ; at first 
he resisted, but at last he became docile. Now our plan 
is this: Let us all go to the camel, and give a vivid account 
of the hunger of the lion, and of the trouble which has 
befallen him; and let us say, we have passed our days in 
gladness under the protection of the prosperity, and in the 
shade of the dignity of this auspicious monarch, and 
to-day, when this event has occurred, honour demands 
this, that we make life and soul a ransom for him; or else 
we shall be stigmatized for ingratitude for his bounty, and 
shall be excluded from the distinction of honourable and 
generous feelings : our duty lies in this, that we go in a 
body to the lion, and pour forth our thanks for his bounty 
and gracious favour, and acknowledge that no service can 
arise at our hands, except this, that we make our souls 
and lives a ransom for him. And then let each of us say, 
to-day let the king make his breakfast of me; but let the 
others always raise some objection ; and thus, perhaps, 
death may be fixed upon the camel. 

Accordingly, they went in company to the camel, and 
repeated all these details to him ; and because such was 
the simplicity of his heart, he was deluded by their wiles 
and cajoling ; and having settled ('very thing exactly in 
«ray that has been described, they all went to the lion. 
And when they had acquitted themselves of the declaration 
of their gratitude and admiration; and of the setting forth 
of praises and prayers for him ; the raven, giving loose to 
tongue, said, Couplet. — *'Oking! through the world 



109 

may prosperity be thine ; at the banquet of joy, may fes- 
tivity be thine." Our repose is dependent upon the health 
of the person of the king ; now, that a case of necessity 
has occurred, and that enough to save life may be produced 
to the king from my flesh, it is fit that he should con- 
descend to kill and make use of me. Then all the others 
said, What is the good of eating thee ? what satisfaction 
can there be in thy food ? Verse. — " Who art thou, that 
thou shouldest ever be taken even into the account T 

The raven, when she heard these words, hung down her 
head ; and the jackal began his speech, saying, Couplet. 
— " O mighty king \ at whose hand, in the season of 
vengeance, the messenger of death takes the daily list of 
the slaughter." Along period has elapsed, that I have 
lived safe from the heat of the sun of vicissitudes, under 
the shade of thy life-increasing good fortune ; this day, 
when the moon of the glory of this presence is overcome 
by the eclipse of distress, I am desirous that the star of 
success should take its rise from the horizon of my con- 
dition; and that the king, making me his food, may be 
free from anxiety about breakfast. To which the others 
replied, All that thou hast said, is from excess of aflection, 
and from the essence of dutifulness ; but then thy flesh is 
rank, coarse, and unwholesome ; may it never be that by 
feeding on it the illness of the king should increase. 

The jackal was silent; and the wolf advancing, loosened 
his tongue, and said, Couplet. — " I pray that, O king-, 
the Lord may be thy aid ; may the enemy, in the day of 
battle, be thy pursuit." I, too, making myself a sacrifice 
for the king, am anxious that his majesty, with cheerful 
smiles, should give my limbs a place at the roots of his 
teeth. His allies said, Thou hast spoken these words out 
of pure fidelity, and genuine attachment; but then thy 
flesh would produce a choking, and in mischief it might 
stand in the place 1 of deadly poison. 

So the wolf stepped back, and the camel, stretching out 



110 

bis long neck, and tossing up the long reins of " every tall 
j nan is a fool," began his speech, and after the proper 
duties of prayer, said, Couplet. — " O great king ! at 
whose thrcshhold the azure heaven has opened many gates 
of victory and triumph." I have been brought up in this 
presence, and educated under this government: if I am fit 
for his majesty's kitchen, or may serve for the supply of 
his table, there is no trouble about my life. Couplet. — 
" I will not arise from the end of thy street, so long as 
I have life ; and if the thing extends to my life, I will 
depart from all care for my life." 

All the rest, agreeing in words, exclaimed, These words 
arc from excess of affection, and from holiness of attach- 
ment ; and in fact, thy flesh is sweet of digestion and 
wholesome for the constitution of the king ; blessings be 
upon thy resolution, that, towards thy benefactor, thou 
hast made no difficulty about thy life; and by this conduct 
thou hast left a good name for a remembrance. Couplet. 
" The resolution of a valorous man. A hundred thousand 
Dirhains. When the affair becomes a question of life, 
then is the occasion for its exercise." Then, all at' once, 
they made an attack upon the camel; and the poor wretch 
could not draw a breath before they had torn his limbs 
in pieces. 

And I have produced this example for this ; that thou 
mayest understand that the deceit of men of selfish views, 
particularly when they are in union with each other, will 
never be without effect. Damanah said, And what defence 
dost thou think of against it ? Shanzabah answered thus, 
At present, my thoughts wander from the path of sound 
conduct. But I know no help for it, except battle and 
contention, war, and slaughter; for whoever is killed in 
guarding his property or protecting his life, is included 
.in the circle of martyrs; and the virtue of this saying, 
— " whoever is killed, except on his own account, is a 
rtyr," — extends to him. And besides, if my death is 



Ill 

determined and ordained at the hand of the lion, at least 
let me be killed honourably ; let me perish with character 
and dignity. Couplet. — " If I die with a good name, it 
may pass; fame must be for me, for the body is for death." 

Damanah said, A prudent man does not go before hand 
in battle, and in time of war does not think precedence 
right ; for " the first blow is the violenee ;" and to engage 
in great dangers, of our own free-will, is no proof of 
cleverness ; for, indeed, men of judgment set about an 
affair of enmity with courtesy and conciliation, and confess 
that it is better to repel a quarrel by gentleness. Verses. 
— " An agreeable deception is better than disagreeable 
anger ; it is better to scatter water than fire : that desire 
which may be accomplished in gentleness, why should 
the reins be turned towards anger? And besides, a 
man should not hold a weak enemy to be small and 
insignificant ; for if he should fail of power and strength, 
it is likely that he may not be deficient in deceit and 
stratagem ; and by fraud and cunning he may raise up 
such a fire of strife, that the flame of it will not be 
quenched by the water of deliberate plans; and thou 
thyself hast known the violence of the lion ; and his 
irresistible power is above the want of commentary and 
enlargement : therefore, take full account of his enmity, 
and be not inattentive to the fierce assault of his fighting. 
For whoever holds an enemy contemptible, and does not 
think about the consequences of the conflict, will be dis- 
graced ; as the envoy of the ocean was by his contempt of 
the Titu. And, at the request of Shanzabah, he related the 

Story. 

They have related that on the shores of the Indian ocean, 
there is a kind of bird which they call Titu, and a pair of 
them had a safe retreat on the sea coast, and had taken 
up their abode at the water-side. When the season of 
eggs was fully come, the female said, we must look out 
for a place to lay the eggs, where we may live in peace of 



112 

mind. The male replied, here is a nice place, and a 
delightful spot ; and to remove at present from this plaee 
seems impossible ; the eggs must be laid. The female 
replied, here is a point for deliberation, for if the sea 
should raise up a wave and carry off our young, and all 
the labour of our life and time should be wasted, what 
arrangement can be made against that ? The male said, 
I have no notion that the envoy of the ocean can exercise 
this audacity, or that he will shew such neglect of regard 
for us ; and on the supposition that he should think of 
such irreverence, and should ex) so far that our little ones 
are drowned, justice may be obtained of him. Couplet. — 
w I will break the sphere together, if it rolls round against 
my wishes, I am not one, who will bear ill usage from the 
sphere of heaven." 

The female said, To wander from our own limits, and 
to boast beyond our means, is unsuitable to a discreet 
man ; by what power canst thou threaten the envoy of 
the ocean with thy vengeance ; and with what pomp canst 
thou take the place of contest and conflict with him ? 
Couplet. — " Thou art making a Turkish inroad for thine 
own devastation ; thou livest as a sparrow, and wilt act 
the hawk." Get along from this thought, and choose, for 
the eggs, a safe spot, a secure place, and do not turn the 
head from my advice ; for any one who does not listen to 
the words of his advisers, and does not shape his conduct 
according to the counsel of his affectionate friends, that 
will happen to him which befel the tortoise. 

The male asked how that was, and the female said, 

Story. 

They have related, that in a lake, whose water, by the 
pureness of its bosom, would, like a clear mirror, receive 
any reflection, and in freshness and sweetness might afford 
information about the fountain of life, or the springs of 
paradise, two ducks and a tortoise were inhabitants; and 
Dy the laws of neighbourhood, the thread of their circum- 



113 

stances was spun out into mutual good faith ; and having 
the same shade, or neighbourhood, ended in having the 
same house ; and being delighted with the sight of each 
other, they passed their days, for a long period, in great 
comfort. Couplet, — " Sweet is the life that is passed in 
the sight of our friends ; sweet is the moment that passes 
with those who love us affectionately." 

Suddenly the hand of treacherous fortune began, with 
the nails of vicissitude, to scratch the face of their condi- 
tion ; and the sphere, a looking glass in colour, began to 
display forms of separation in the mirror of their days. 
Verse. — " And what enjoyment is there, which fortune 
does not darken ?" Verses. — " How sweet is the wine 
from the cup of union with those who have stolen our 
hearts ; but there is behind it, the sick head-ache of 
parting : at this table, no man can bite a mouthful of 
bread, but a stone gets between his teeth." 

A complete failure appeared in the water, which was 
their material of life, and their means of subsistence ; and 
a dreadful alteration was apparent. The ducks, when 
they got full information of the particulars of this event, 
withdrew their heart from their beloved home, and fastened 
it on the design of emigration. Verses. — " Travelling is 
better for that man, when, in his own place, his mind is 
vexed with sorrow about this and that ; for although the 
vexations of travelling are very^bad, yet they are better 
than the sufferings of our native land." So with hearts 
full of grief, and eyes full of moisture, coming to the tor- 
toise, and introdueing words of parting benediction, they 
said, Couplet. — " The evil eye of the times lias parted 
us from thee ; that evil eye of the times, what can I say, 
for what things has it done : " The tortoise lamented 
about the anguish of parting, and drew forth his complaints 
in great sorrow, saying, What words are these ? How can 
life be thought of without you ? In what way can life 
be possessed without confidential friends : / "erses. — " Oh ! 



114 

without thee, existence is hateful ; indeed, without thee, 
what is existence? For every mode of life, which must 
be without thee, is but a kind of death, under the name 
of existence." And since I have not the strength to bear 
this farewell, how shall I be able to endure a separation ? 
Couplet. — " I am still the stately cypress, by those eyes 
which are not yet departed ; but my heart, at the thought 
of your departure, is like a trembling willow." 

The ducks replied, 

To us also the heart is lacerated by the many thorns of 
separation, and in our bosoms, by the blazing of the flame 
of the fire of leaving thee, there is a burning beyond 
excess. But it is close at hand, that the difficulty of want 
of water should give the dust of our being to the wind of 
extinction ; therefore, of necessity, relinquishing friends 
and country, we make choice of the affliction of departure. 
Couplet. — " Of his own accord, the heartless lover never 
left the street of his beloved ; no man of his own choice, 
ever left the gardens of paradise." 

The tortoise said, 

My friends, ye know that the evil of a failure of water 
is greater w T ith respect to me ; and my existence, without 
water, would not be possible. At this time, the claims of 
ancient intimacy require this, that you should take me 
along with you, and not leave me alone in the melancholy 
abode of separation. Couplet. — " Thou art my soul, and 
thou hast the design of going away ; when the soul 
departs, what can this lifeless body do?" 

They said, Thou single-minded friend, and noble asso- 
ciate ! the grief of leaving thee is greater to us, than 
quitting the place of our birth ; sorrow at parting with 
thee is, to our heart, a cause of additional melancholy and 
depression. And we, wherever we may go, and though 
we may dwell in the utmost comfort, and should pass 
our days in complete enjoyment, yet without the sight of 
thee, the fountain of our joy will be dark, and the eye of 



115 

our fortune, dull : for neither have we any desire, except 
union and intercourse with thee; hut then it is extremely 
difficult for us to move along upon the surface of the earth, 
and to get through a long and tedious journey; whilst thy 
flight through the expanse of the air, and keeping company 
with us, is out of the question. Under this disposition of 
nature, how can there be any travelling together ? By 
what means can we keep company ? 

The tortoise said, Your understanding is able to raise 
up some remedy, even for this matter; and a device for this 
purpose also may result from your thoughts ; for I, with 
a soul distracted at the idea of your removal, and a heart 
broken with the burden of separation, what arrangement 
can I make ? Couplet. — " In every affair, the whole heart 
is needed from the beginning ; sound plans never come 
from a broken heart." 

The ducks replied, Dear friend ! during this period, we 
have perceived a little fickleness in thee, and have disco- 
vered some inconsistency and want of steadiness. Perhaps 
thou wilt not act upon what we shall say, aud wilt not be 
firm in the promise that thou mayest make. The tortoise 
answered, How can it be that you should give an opinion 
for the bettering of my condition, and that I should think in 
opposition to it; or that I should not fulfil a promise which 
may be for the sake of my own benefit ? Couplet. — " I 
have bound myself by a vow, that I will certainly never turn 
away my head from my promise; I have made it a condition, 
that I am not to deviate from the conditions. The ducks 
said, The condition then is this, that when we have lifted 
thee up, and are flying through the air, thou shalt abso- 
lutely not speak a single word ; for every one whose eyes 
shall fall upon us, will throw in a word, and will utter 
some saying of broad hint and allusion. It is necessary 
that, whenever, by speech or gesture, you may hear any- 
thing, or observe any action, thou close up the path of 
reply ; and that thou loosen not the tongue, neither for 



1 10 

good nor bad. The tortoise said, I will obey your orders ; 
and, positively, placing the seal of silence on my lips, I 
will not be exposed to answer any creature. Fragment. — 
" I came at length to an old man, in the farthest parts of 
Greece : I said to him, O thou, who hast wisdom and un- 
derstanding, what hast thou learnt from men ? which is 
best in all conditions ? He said, If thou ask the truth, 
silence — silence." Then they brought a stick, and the 
tortoise seized the middle of it firmly in his teeth ; and 
the ducks, taking up the two ends of it, carried him off. 
When they got to a height in the air, their way lay over 
a certain village ; and the men of the village, getting a 
knowledge of it, were astonished at their appearance, and 
coining forth to admire it, set up a shout, to left and right, 
saying, Look at the ducks, how they are carrying a tor- 
toise. And as the like of that appearance had never, in 
those days, reached the observation of that tribe, their 
shouts and screams kept increasing every moment. The 
tortoise, for some time, continued silent ; at last the caul- 
dron of her pride began to boil, and, her power of en- 
durance being bowed down, she said, Verse — " Then let 
him be blind, every one that cannot see." But to open 
his lips, and to fall to the ground, was one and the same 
thing ; and the ducks exclaimed, " Nothing belongs to a 
messenger but to arrive." It is laid on friends to give 
counsel; and on the fortunate to listen to advice. Frag- 
ment. — ■" Well-wishers give advice ; but it is the fortunate, 
or well-disposed, who become susceptible of advice : my 
advice, although I am thy well-wisher, on thee, ill-fated, 
when shall it make an impression ?" 

And the use of the fable is this, — that every one who 
does not listen with an ear of consent to the counsels of 
bis fri( nds, will have laboured in his own destruction, and 
will have drawn the veil of advice from the features of 
hia own ignominy. Couplet. — "That man who does not 
.-' xr ear to the words of the venerable, shall frequently 
bite the finger of shame." 



117 

The male Titu said, I have listened to this example, 
that you have brought forward, and become well acquainted 
with its meaning; but do not fear, only keep your place; 
for men of weak hearts, who are timorous, never attain 
their object. My opinion is still the same ; the envoy of 
the ocean will consider a regard for us among his bounden 
duties. So the female laid her eggs; and when the young 
ones, bursting out of the white shirt of the eg:g, put their 
heads forth from the collar of life, the sea, rising into 
waves, took them under the skirt of destruction. The 
mother, on beholding this catastrophe, fell into agitation, 
and said, O wretch! I knew there was no joking with the 
water; now thou hast given my children to the wind, and 
set my soul on fire : think at least of some contrivance 
by which some ointment may be laid upon my lacerated 
feelings. The male replied, Thou speakest words of dis- 
honour; for acquitting myself of the obligation of my 
words, according to that very promise of mine, which 
thou knowest, I will obtain justice against the envoy of 
the ocean. He immediately repaired to the other birds; 
and collecting together into one place, all those, each and 
every one, who were the leaders and chieftains of each 
species, he fully explained his condition to them ; and, 
beseeching their aid and succour, he began, in a voice of 
supplication, this song : Couplet. — " The details of the 
wretchedness of my heart are boundless: this is the season 
of succour, and the time of favour." If my honourable 
friends are not all of them, in this emergency, of one back 
and one heart; if they do not, with one accord, avenge me 
of the envoy of the ocean, his boldness will increase, and 
hereafter he will form a design against the young of other 
birds; and when this rule has become habitual, and this 
custom has received confirmation, you may as well tear 
up your hearts from your children, and bid farewell to 
your home and abode. Couplet. — " We must either, by 
a hundred insults, work his sorrow with disgrace; or turn 
our steps into the dismal abode of dissolution." 



118 

The birds, being much agitated and afflicted by this 
occurrence, wove their wings within each other ; and 
hastening off to pay their duty at the court of the Simurgh, 
they earried the form of the event to the goal of represen- 
tation, and said, If thou dost feel the griefs of thy subjeets, 
thou art fit to be their sovereign ; but, if thou hast no 
care for the sufferings of the afflicted, and no sorrow for 
the oppressed, then the inscription of sovereignty over 
the birds being erased from the page of thy prosperity, 
the patent of their guardianship shall be transferred to 
another. Couplet. — " Take care that thou feel the 
sufferings of the miserable ; or tremble at the violence of 
fortune." 

The Simurgh, kindly complying, set off with his servants 
and guards, from the abode of royalty, to repel this aggres- 
sion ; and the birds, with his help and succour, being- 
strong in courage, turned their faces to the shore of the 
Indian ocean. And when the Simurgh, with an army, 
the extent and limits of which could not be contained 
within the extent of the reckoning of any accountant, and 
the number of their armies and species, the balance of 
surmise and possibility could never weigh. Fragment. — 
" All were audacious, fierce, valiant, and blood drinkers ; 
all were courageous, experienced in war, and working 
vengeance ; they had thrown over their breasts, mail and 
armour of feathers and wings ; and had drawn out spears 
and daggers of claws and beaks." When he arrived 
in the neighbourhood of the ocean, the breeze of the 
dawn, which sets the long line of the waves in motion, 
carried the tidings to the envoy: and he, when he did not 
find within his own capacity strength to contend with the 
Simurgh and the army of birds, entering, of necessity, into 
a position of apology, restored the children of theTitu. 

And my purpose in relating the fable is this : That we 
ought not to despise any enemy, though he should be ever 
SO feeble ; for some work may be done by a diminutive 



119 

needle, to which the lofty spear is incompetent : and a 
burning- stiek from the fire, though it appear small in our 
sight, yet will it burn whatever comes in contact with it. 
And philosophers have said, that the friendship of a 
thousand people is not to be put in comparison with the 
enmity of one person. Couplet. — " For friendship, a 
thousand persons are too few : for enmity, one would be 
a great number." 

Shanzabah then said, I will not take the first step in 
the battle; that I may not be stamped with the infamy of 
ingratitude for favours : but as soon as the lion makes an 
attack upon me, I shall consider self-preservation, and the 
defence of my person, as incumbent. Damanah said, 
when thou goest near the lion, and seest that he has raised 
himself up, and is lashing his tail on the ground, and that 
the flame of his anger, like the fire of his eyes, appears 
to be kindled ; be assured, that he has a design against 
thee. Shanzabah replied, If anything of this nature 
should appear, without a doubt, the veil of suspicion being 
withdrawn from the features of certainty, there will be 
conviction on the point of the perfidy and designs of the 
lion. Damanah, then rejoicing, and fresh in spirits, came 
back to Kalilah. Couplet. — " The fool, whose joy is from 
the sorrow of others, seek not truth or honesty from him, 
for he is alienated from all." 

Kalilah said, How far are matters come ? and, in what 
has the business concluded ? Damanah gave answer, 
Vevse. — " I am thankful for my own fortune ; and also 
for the times." And God be praised, that the fullest 
relief has presented itself; and that such a difficult matter 
has been accomplished with success and ease. Damanah 
was saying this, while fortune, in the language of retri- 
bution, was whispering the purport of this couplet, in the 
ears of the wise men of the assembly of penetration. 
Couplet. — " The guests joyfully seized the ringlets of the 
cup-bearer : if heaven would but permit them to possess 
any security." 



120 

So they both went to the lion ; and it so fell out that the 
ox came in immediately on their footsteps. The eyes of 
the lion fell on the ox ; and the insinuations of Damanah 
coming into operation, the lion began to roar, and kept 
lashing the tail of assault on the ground, and was grinding 
his teeth with excess of rage. Shanzabah made sure that 
the lion had a design against him, and said to himself, 
The service of princes, in fear and consternation, and 
attendance upon kings, dread and terror, are like living in 
the same house with a snake, and dwelling in the same 
shelter with a lion : for though the snake may be asleep, 
and the lion hid, yet at last the former will raise up his 
head, and the latter will open his mouth. Couplet. — " Do 
not pay your court to kings, for I am afraid of it ; lest it 
become suddenly like the intimacy of the stone and the 
pitcher." While thus reflecting he began the fight : and 
on each they perceived the signal which the impudent 
Damanah had described ; and the battle being begun, 
they spread their roaring and bellowing through the whole 
space of the land, and the expanse of time. Fragment, — 
" From their uproar, the gentle and the ravenous beasts, 
in that plain and wilderness, were confounded : one took 
shelter in the cleft of a mountain ; and another hid himself 
beneath the rubbish." 

Kalilah, observing this event, turned round to Damanah, 
and thus addressed him : Quatrain. — " Thou hast, with 
artful skill, stirred up a hundred stratagems ; and then 
thou hast fled from the midst of the affair. The rain of 
two centuries will not allay this dust of calamity which 
thou hast raised." O fool! dost thou see the evil of the 
result of thine own proceedings, or no ? Dost thou 
recognise the disgrace of the conclusion of thine under- 
taking ? Damanah said, What is the evil result? The 
other said, This work which thou hast done ; in this affair 
there are seven manifest evils: the First is this, that, 
without necessity thou hast involved the master of thv 



121 

prosperity in difficulty, and hast brought heavy trouble upon 
the spirit of the lion : the Second, that thou hast incited 
thy master so far, that he is become notorious for breach 
of promise and perfidy, and thou hast made this bad cha- 
racter to be his due : the Third, without any cause thou 
hast laboured for the blood of the ox, and hast thrown 
him into a pathless desert of destruction : Fourth, thou 
hast laid on thine own neck the blood of this innocent 
creature, who will be killed by thy exertions : Fifth, thou 
hast made a multitude evil-minded towards the king, and it 
is possible that, for fear of him, deserting their native land, 
they may repair to another ; and wandering from their 
home, they may sink under the difficulties of foreign 
travels, and emigration from their native land : Sixth, thou 
hast rendered the chief of the armies of beasts an object 
of ruin, and the bond of their union will hereafter be left 
disjointed : Seventh, thou hast displayed thine own in- 
competency and weakness, and thou hast not carried to an 
end that boast, I will acquit myself of this business with 
mildness and gentleness. And surely he is the most 
stupid of mankind, who awakens strife that was asleep : 
and some undertaking which would admit of being pur- 
sued by peace and good will, he wishes to carry it on by 
quarrels and fierceness. Damanah said, Thou hast perhaps 
never heard how they have said, Couplet. — " The affair 
that does not succeed by wisdom, something of madness 
should be used in it." Kalllah replied, In this affair, what 
point hast thou settled by the aid of prudence ? or what 
plan hast thou formed by the help of the architect of deli- 
beration, which not advancing, there was need of severity 
and harshness ? After all, dost thou not know that sound 
judgment and righteous thoughts are preferred before au- 
dacity and bravery? Versa. — "Judgment is before the 
bravery of the bold." Couplet. — " A thoroughly wise 
man, with a word, performs works which are not to be 
accomplished by a hundred desolating armies.' 1 And thy 



122 

admiration and infatuation about thyself; how thou art 
deluded by the pomp of this deceitful world, which, like the 
thick vapour of the desert, has nothing in it but an outward 
appearance, have always been known to me ; but I felt a 
little hesitation about laying it open, as to whether thou 
would take any warning ; whether thou wouldest arise, 
alert and vigilant, from the sleep of pride, and the insen- 
sibility and intoxication of the drink of conceit. But as 
thou hast now gone beyond all bounds, and art becoming, 
each moment, more wild and distracted in the desert of 
error and the pit of desperation, it is time that I should 
set forth a little of the height of thy ignorance and dark- 
ness, and of the excess of thy boldness and contumacy ; 
and that I should recount a few of thy offences in words, 
and sins in conduct, though it may be but as a drop out 
of the ocean, or a grain of dust from a mountain. Verses, 
- — " That thou mayest know what things thou hast done : 
drawing a pattern of perfidy, thou hast committed an error. 
On all points, thou art nothing in any account that is 
taken : though all others are something, thou, in short, 
art nothing." 

Damanah said, O brother, from the beginning of life 
till this time, I do not believe that a word which was not 
fit, or an action was not suitable, has come into existence 
from me ; yet if thou hast observed any fault in me, 
certainly it is right to set it forth. Kalilah said, * Thou 
hast many faults. The first is this ; that thou fanciest 
thyself to be faultless: another, that thy talk preponderates 
over thy doings : and they have said, that there is no 
danger to a king equal to this, that the words of his 
ministers are weighter than his actions. And the men of 
the world are, as to words and actions, of four classes : 
First, there is the man who says and does not ; and this 
is the habit of hypocrites and misers : Secondly, he who 
does not say, but yet does ; and this is the practice of 
upright generous men : the Third, is one who says and 



123 

does ; which is the temper of men of society : and the 
Fourth is, he that neither says nor does; and this is the 
character of the base and low-minded. Now, thou art 
of that class which will talk, but do not adorn their 
words with the ornament of action ; and I have always 
found thy talking far beyond thy merits. And the lion, 
deluded by thy narrations, is become exposed to such peril 
as this : and if, God protect us ! any injury should befal 
hirn, anarchy and confusion will arise in these dominions ; 
the misery and destruction of the people will exceed all 
bounds; all their lives and property will fall into danger 
of destruction and plunder ; and the sin of all this misery 
will be upon thy neck. Fragment, — " Whoever is evil in 
action, or evil in thought, where shall he ever again see 
the face of welfare : whoever plants a sprig of injury, 
where shall he pick the fruit of benefit ?" 

Damanah said, I have always been a minister, giving 
good advice to the king ; nor have I planted any but the 
shrubs of good counsel in the garden of his circumstances. 
Kalilah replied, The shrub, whose fruit is that conduct 
which is now seen, had been better plucked up by the 
root: and that advice, which produces such consequences 
as have now come to sight, had been better, neither uttered 
nor heard. And how can any advantage be looked for in 
thy discourse, while the fact is that it is not adorned with 
the ornament of practice ? For knowledge, without prac- 
tice, is like wax without honey, it has not the least flavour; 
and talking, without doing, is like a tree without leaves or 
fruit, it is fit for nothing but to burn. Verses. — " Know- 
ledge, which has no sign of being put in practice, is a 
carcase only, and there is no soul in it. Knowledge is a 
tree, and conduct is the fruit to it ; it is especially for the 
sake of the fruit, that the tree grew up. The branch, 
which is without fruit, is hateful ; it is a supply for the 
fire of the cooks." 

And eminent men have, with the pen of kindness, 

R 



124 

inscribed this upon the pages of their volumes; that from 
things no advantage can he derived: — the First, 
discourse without practice; the Second, wealth without 
prudence; the Third, friendship without experience ; the 
Fourth, knowledge without virtue; the Fifth, alms with- 
out pious intentions; and the Sixth, life without society. 
And the king, though in his own nature he be just and 
seldom oppressive, yet a minister, ill-disposed and of sordid 
character, will cut off all the benefits of his justice and 
clemency from all the people ; and from dread of his 
opposition, the sorrowful tale of the afflicted never attains 
to the honour of being laid before the king ; just like 
sweet and limpid water, in which the figure of a crocodile 
may be observed, no thirsty swimmer, though he may be 
excessively parched, can either open his hand in it, or 
place his foot in it. Couplet. — " I am come, parched to 
the liver, to a fountain of water ; but what is the use ; 
since there is no power to drink." 

Daman ah said, I had no object in this proceeding, but 
the honour of attending upon the king, Kalilah said, 
Accomplished attendants, efficient servants, and ministers, 
who understand business, are the pride and ornament of 
the courts of kings : but thou art desirous that others 
should be set aside from doing their duty to the king; and 
that thou mayest be the one relied upon, and pointed out; 
1 1 nd that high favour in his presence shall be confined to 
thyself; and this notion is from the extreme of ignorance, 
and the excess of folly; for princes are not to be restrained 
to any one thing or person. And the rank of sovereignty 
has a resemblance to grace and beauty; for just as some 
fascinating beauty, the more numerous her lovers, the more 
frequent is the display of the splendour of her attractions; 
so a king also, whatever number of servants and retainers 
may appear, his inclination will be for an addition to his 
retinue and attendants, And this unripe desire that thou 
hast, is a clear demonstration of excess of stupidity; just 



125 

as philosophers have said, the signs of folly are five things: 
— First, to seek our own benefit in the injury of others ; 
Second, to hope for the rewards of a future life, without 
holiness and charity; Third, to make love to women with 
harsh language and violence of temper; Fourth, to learn 
the subtle points of the sciences, with self-indulgence and 
ease; Fifth, to expect friendship from men, without faith- 
fulness or regard to the rights of attachment. And it is 
from the height of that affection which I entertain, that I 
speak these words : or else it is as clear as the sun, that 
the dark night of thy depravity will never be made light 
by the torch of my preaching ; and that the darkness of 
ignorance, and the blackness of envy, which are interwoven 
in thy being, will never be dissipated by the rays of my 
counsels. Couplet. — " It would not be possible, with the 
water of the well of Mecca, or the streams of Paradise, to 
bleach the blanket of the fortune of that man, which they 
have woven black." And the example of myself, with 
regard to thee, is the same as that of the man,* who kept 
saying to the bird, do not take fruitless trouble, nor waste 
thy words upon a set, who are not in a case to listen : but 
he would not attend, and in the end the just reward of it 
reached him. 

Damanah enquired how it was, and Kalilah told this 

Story. 

They have related that a flock of monkeys held their 
abode on a certain mountain, and lived upon the fruits 
and herbs of it. By destiny, on a certain night, more 
black than the hearts of sinners, and darker than the 
minds of men of desperate fortunes, the army of winter 
made an assault upon them ; and by the gust of the 
blasts of intense cold, the course of the blood in their 
bodies began to congeal. Verses, — " By the frost, the Lioq 
of the firmament was in hopes that he might change 

* Note. — From the Story, it appears that ii pas not a man, but 

another bird, who said this to the bird. There i 



126 

his skin, inside out, on his body : and in the fields, the 
birds had their shoes in the fire, (/. e. were in restless 
haste) for cheerfully would they be put on the spit to the 
fire. The poor creatures, distressed by the cold, were 
Beeking some shelter ; and in their search for it, girding 
themselves with alacrity, were running about into every 
corner. On a sudden, they saw a bright lump of quick- 
silver lying on one side of the road ; and under a belief 
that it was fire, having collected some sticks and laid them 
about it, were blowing their breath on it. And opposite 
to them, a bird on a tree kept calling out, it is not fire : 
but they paid no attention, and did not desist from their 
fruitless task. By chance, in this interval, another bird 
came there and said to this bird, do not take this trouble, 
for they will not be hindered by thy talking, and thou wilt 
become vexed. Couplet. — " Every one who becomes 
allied to misfortune, in the commencement of his affairs, 
renounce him, for he will not become fortunate by perse- 
verance." And to show any exertion in polishing and 
regulating such persons, is like trying a sword upon a 
stone ; or to seek from deadly poison the properties of a 
sovereign antidote. Fragment, — " Whoever, in his origin, 
turned out base in nature, do not entertain a hope of 
any goodness from him. Because, assuredly, with every 
exertion, it is not possible to make, out of a black raven, 
a white hawk." When the bird saw that they did not 
listen to his words, from the excess of his kindness he 
alighted from the tree, in order that he might more clearly 
bring his advice to their ears; and make some remon- 
strance with them against that unprofitable labour which 
they were bearing, when the monkeys, collecting together 
about her, separated her head from her body. Now, my 
proceedings with thee have just the same character; I am 
wasting my time, and uttering unprofitable words : and 
whilst no benefit will result to thee, there is a fear also of 
some injury to me. Fragment, — " If the listener does 






127 

not agree to thy counsel ; why shouldest thou lay a useless 
burthen on thy tender heart. Thou hast said thus, mount 
the holy beast of happiness ; that thou mayest reach unto 
the halting place, and thou mayest be free from care. 
But he would not hear; and goes on, just as before, in his 
way : let him alone, that, on foot, he may lag behind for 
his folly." 

Damanah said, My brother ! eminent men have always 
observed the conditions of integrity towards inferiors in 
their advice and counsel ; and have abstained from their 
own inclinations and from deceit: and the maintenance of 
the usages of counsel and advice, is incumbent upon men 
of excellence ; whether a person will listen to them, or 
will not. Fragment. — " Keep not thy advice from any 
person back, but speak; though there may be on the part 
of the hearer, some fault. The cloud does not withhold 
the drops of rain from the mountain ; although it does not 
make any impression upon the heart of the marble." 

Kalilah said, I do not close the gate of advice against 
thee ; but I am afraid of this, that thou hast laid the 
foundations of thy conduct upon deceit and stratagem, 
and hast taken self-opinion, and self-will for thy trade : 
" it is the worst qualification, that obstinacy :" and when 
thou shalt become ashamed, shame will do no good ; and 
ever so often as thou shalt bite the back of thy hand, or 
scratch the face of the bosom, it will yield no profit. For 
every project, of which the foundations are built upon 
fraud and perfidy, the result of it will finish in disgust, 
and conclusion of it in disgrace. Just as it befel the 
cunning partner ; and the evil of his stratagem turning 
into the ring of a snare of calamity, hung about his own 
neck : while the wise partner, by the blessing of honesty 
and a pure heart, attained his object. 

Damanah asked the particulars, and Kalilah said, 

Story. 

They have related that there were two partners ; the 



128 

one prudent, the other negligent. The former, by the 
excess of cunning and counterfeit, would work a thousand 
changes upon the water; and men used also to call him 
Sharp-wit: the other, from the extent of his stupidity and 
ignorance, could not make any distinction between profit 
and loss ; and him they called Light-heart. They had a 
claim upon a certain merchant ; so, in union with each 
other, they set their faces to the journey, and went on 
folding up their stages and marches. By destiny, they 
found a sum of money on the way ; and reckoning it 
great spoils, they began to hesitate. The clever one said, 
Brother, in this world, there is much profit, that is never 
made : at present, to be content with this sum, and to 
pass our days with tranquility, in the corner of our own 
hut, appears best. Verses. — " How long wilt thou wander 
about the world for the sake of gold ? the more the gold 
becomes, the greater the sorrow grows. The cup of the 
eye of the avaricious was never filled. While the oyster 
shell was not satisfied, it was not filled with pearls." So 
they turned back; and being come near to the city, they 
alighted at the halting place. The inconsiderate partner 
said, come on ! that we may divide this money ; and 
getting free from alarm, may each of us spend our own 
share in whatever we like. But the clever one answered, 
At present, it is not expedient to make a division ; the 
right course would be in this ; that we should carry away 
that amount, for which necessity may occur for our 
exprnces; and let us lay the rest as a deposit some where, 
with great circumspection: and every certain number of 
days, coining, and taking from it, in proportion to our 
necessities, we will, in like manner, make the remainder 
ire; that it may be the further from danger, and the 
nearer to safety. The stupid partner, inveigled by the 
delusion, and receiving his fictions with approbation, they 
took, in the way that has been mentioned, a quantity of 
coin, and by agreement buried the remainder under a tree, 



129 

and setting their faces towards the city, each took up his 
ahode in his own home. Couplet. — " Next day, when 
the juggling sphere opened the lid of the chest of fraud," 
That partner who used to pretend to cunning, went to the 
foot of the tree, and taking all the pieces of money out 
of the earth, carried them away. The careless partner, 
knowing nothing of the matter, was busy in spending the 
cash that he had, till the least of it was not left. So he 
came to the clever one, and said, come along ! and let us 
fetch something from our buried store, for I am grown 
completely destitute. The cunning fellow, pretending 
ignorance, said, it would be right. So they both came 
along together to the foot of the tree ; but by how much 
the more they sought, the less did they find. Then 
Sharp-wit laid his hand on the collar of Light-heart, 
saying, this money thou hast taken, while any other person 
had not information. And the poor fellow, with all the 
oaths that he swore, and the lamentations that he made, 
did not reach his point. And to go on with the Story, 
their business went on, from a quarrel to a law-suit ; and 
from a contest it terminated in an appeal. The cunning 
partner, bringing the careless one before the judge, made 
his claim upon him, and conveyed to the ear of the judge 
the purport of the Story, and the meaning of the dispute : 
and after the denial of Light-heart, the judge demanded 
from Sharp-wit, some proof in conformity with his claim. 
Sharp-wit said, " O Kazi, may God Almighty preserve 
thee." Couplet. — " Take enjoyment of thy life ; for on 
the bench of justice, all the sentences of thy life are 
stamped for perpetuity." There is no witness for me, with 
the exception of that tree, at the foot of which the gold 
was buried ; and I hope that the Lord, glorious and 
almighty, by His perfect power, may bring that tree to 
speech, that it may establish evidence to the theft of this 
iniquitous traitor, who has carried off the whole of the 
cash, and made me desolate. The Kazi was amazed at 



130 

those words ; and after a good deal of altercation and 
abundant talk, they gave rest to it upon this, — that next 
day, the Kazi appearing at the foot of the tree, should call 
upon the tree for evidence; and that if its evidence should 
be conformable to the claim, he should upon its evidence 
make a decree. The cunning partner went home ; and 
having detailed the whole affair to his father, withdrew 
the veil from the business, and said, And with a confidence 
in thee, my father, I have formed a notion of evidence 
from the tree; and with hopes in thee, I have planted the 
shrub of stratagem in the court of justice, and the whole 
project is connected closely with thy love; if thou wilt act 
in concert, we may carry off that gold, and obtain as much 
more, and pass the rest of our life in comfort and ease. 
The father said, What can that be, which depends upon 
me in this undertaking ? The son said, The inside of the 
tree is hollow, in such a manner, that if two persons 
should be hid in it, one could not see them. It is neces- 
sary for thee to go this night, and to remain inside the 
tree till to-morrow, when the KiizI shall come and call for 
evidence : then, as the custom is, thou canst bring thy 
testimony to fulfilment. The father said, My son! depart 
from the thought of fraud and stratagem ; for if thou 
shouldst delude the creatures, thou canst not deceive the 
Creator. Quatrain. — " The Lord of heaven knows all 
thy secrets ; for He knows thee, hair by hair, and vein by 
vein. I grant that, by fraud, thou mayest deceive mankind. 
What wilt thou do with Him ? for He understands all 
things individually." Oh ! many is the stratagem which 
has become a plague to its author ; and the fit reward of 
it reaching even to himself, he has become disgraced and 
exposed. And I am fearful that, (let it not be), thy 
stratagem may be like the stratagem of the frog. 

The son asked how that was, and the father said, 

Story. 

They have related, that a frog had made her home by 



131 

the side of a snake, and had taken up her dwelling in the 
neighbourhood of that blood- sucking oppressor: and every 
time that the frog used to bring forth young, the snake 
used to eat them up ; and used to afflict her heart with 
the brand of the loss of her offspring. This frog had an 
intimacy with a crab ; one day she went to him and said, 
Obliging friend ! think of some suitable scheme for me ; 
for I have a superior enemy and a powerful foe ; for 
neither to stand against him can be conceived, nor is any 
tale or allegory of vengeance within my reach. For the 
spot which I have made my dwelling, is a sweet place; 
and my delightful abode is a meadow, the dark green 
limits of which exhilirate the soul like the gardens of 
paradise ; and its delightful breezes are perfumed, like 
the ringlets of beauties. Verses. — " A hundred thousand 
flowers are blown in it ; the verdure is lively, and the 
water tranquil in it. Each flower of a different kind, in 
its colouring ; the odour of each flower had extended a 
league. The volumes of roses had unfolded a hundred 
leaves; and the tulips held on their palms, cups of moisture. 
By the fragrance of the northern breeze, shedding odours, 
all the sides of it became mingled with perfume." And 
no person would by choice abandon such a residence ; nor 
withdraw his heart from this specimen of the celestial 
paradise. Couplet. — " My abode is the street of the 
pagons ; and what a lovely spot it is : no reasonable man 
in the world would abandon such a place." 

The crab said, Do not suffer sorrow ; for it is possible 
to bind a strong enemy in the noose of stratagem ; and 
one can cast a superior foe into the snare of fraud. 
Couplet. — " If any one scatter the grains of stratagem, 
he may bring plenty of cunning birds into the snare." 

The frog said, And in this chapter, what hard question 
of the book of subtlety hast thou solved; and what remedy 
hast thou got hold of, for the repulse of the evil of this 
malevolent enemy? The crab said, In a certain spot 



132 

there is an ichneumon, fond of battle, and sharp tempered: 
catch a few fishes, and drag them, and spread them along, 
from before his hole, all the way to the dwelling of the 
snake : and so, as the^ichneumon eats them up, one by 
one, and goes on in search of another, doubtless, wdien 
he conies to the hole of the snake, he will make use of 
him too ; and will set thee free from his malice and mis- 
chief. The frog, by this contrivance, which coincided 
with destiny, destroyed the snake. When a space of two 
or three days had passed after this occurrence, there arose 
to the ichneumon a temptation to this, that he would 
make a movement in seeking to eat fish ; and repeat the 
same scene to which he had now formed a habit. Again 
he set off, in search of fish, on the same road which he 
had before measured with the foot of desire ; and as he 
found no fish he ate up the frog and her young ones. 
Couplet. — " Thou hast snatched me from the fangs of the 
wolf; but when I looked, in the end, thou thyself wast 
the wolf." And I have brought this example, because the 
termination of stratagem is entanglement ; and the end of 
fraud and perfidy is shame and humiliation. Couplet. — 
" Set not thy foot in the valley of deceit and devices; 
for thou wilt fall into the snare of calamity, in the 
conclusion." 

The son said, My father, shorten the discourse, and 
hold these far and distant thoughts in suspense ; for this 
is a matter of little harm and much benefit. A lust for 
the money, and affection for his child led the helpless old 
man from the halting place of honesty and religion, to the 
deserts of violence and treachery ; and the secret of 
" verily your wealth and their children are a temptation 
for you" came to publicity. Leaving the road of manli- 
ness untrodden, and entirely rolling up the carpet of fine 
feeling, he thought lit to undertake such a part, as in law 
and custom is forbidden and denied; and on that dark 
night, with a darkened heart took his place inside the 



133 

tree. At dawn, when the clear minded Kazi, the sun, 
became manifest on the judgment seat of the sky, and 
the perfidy of the black faced night became as clear as 
day to the creatures of the world; — the Kazi, made his 
appearance with a concourse of eminent persons, at the 
foot of the tree; and the people, in a crowd to behold the 
sight, drew up in a line. The Kazi, turning his face to 
the tree, after explaining the claim of the plaintiff*, and the 
denial of the defendant, called upon it to explain the state 
of the case. A voice came forth from inside the tree, 
that Light-heart took away the money ; and has done 
violence to Sharp-wit, w r ho is his partner. The Kazi was 
astounded ; and by his sagacity understood, that some one 
was concealed within the tree ; and that to expose him 
would not be attainable, but by an adroit contrivance. 
Couplet. — " The secret of every device which is hidden 
from the eye.of prudence ; except in the mirror of con- 
trivance does not become manifest." 

Then he gave orders ; and so, collecting a great deal 
of rubbish, they laid it all about the tree, and set it on 
fire ; till they brought smoke out of the family (or breath 
out of the body) of that unfinished man, raw business. 
The covetous old man, having a little while shewn patience, 
when he saw that the matter was come to his life, called 
for quarter: and the Kazi, having extricated him and 
shewn him kindness, put questions to him about the truth 
of the case. The half-burnt old man revealed with truth 
the form of the event; and the Kazi, being fully informed 
of the particulars, set forth to the people the characteristic 
of integrity and moderation in Light-heart, and the 
treachery and worthlessness of Sharp-wit. And coincident 
with this state; of things, the old man, witli his hypocrisy, 
removed the furniture of life from this perishable world to 
the mansions of eternity: and with all the heat of worldly 
fire, he found a union with the raging of the flames of 
futurity. The son, after he had met with the utmost 



134 

chastisement, and had endured grievous severity, laying 
his dead father upon his neek, set off for the city. And 
Light-heart, hy the blessing of righteousness and integrity, 
truth and probity, getting back his own money, became 
engaged in settling his affairs. And the conclusion from 
the recital of this example is this; that it may be known 
to mankind, that the results of deceit are unpleasant, and 
the conclusion of treachery is unhappy and contemptible. 
Verses. — " Whoever places his foot in the straits of 
deceit; at length will give his own head to the wind. 
Fraud is a snake which has two heads; and each one has 
a different kind of danger. That end, if it make the 
enemy heart-sore, this brings mischief to its owner " 

Damanah said, Thou hast imposed upon judgment the 
name of deceit ; and given to arrangement the epithet of 
fraud and perfidy. I have performed this object by sound 
arrangement, and have accomplished so great a matter 
with a right judgment. Kalilah said, Thou art, in weak- 
ness of judgment, and infirmity of plan, in that state that 
the tongue becomes incompetent to the recital of it ; and 
in baseness of mind, and violence of love for power, art 
at such a stage, that description is left at a loss in telling 
it. The advantage of thy fraud and deceit to thy master 
and the lord of thy prosperity, may be what thou seest : 
still at last, what will be the evil and the punishment of it 
with regard to thyself; for the infamy of thy double face 
and double tongue will yield an evil consequence. Damanah 
said, What is the harm of having a double face ? for the 
beautiful rose is an ornament to the garden, from having 
a double face. And what is the fear of being double 
tongued ; for the pen of the secretary, with its two 
tongues, is the guardian of wealth and dominion : the 
sword which has only one face, (or edge) to drink blood 
is its office ; but a comb, which has two faces, (sides) its 
resting place is the forehead of the lovely. Fragment. — 
' lie drinks blood, like a sword, in this age ; every one 



135 

who is of one face and of one tongue, because he is of a 
a pure nature : but that man who is like a comb, with 
double face and double tongue, they will give him a place 
on their foreheads, because of his superiority." 

Kalllah said, Damanah, leave off this boasting. Thou 
art neither that two-faced rose, that in beholding thy 
beauty the eye becomes bright ; but rather, that heart- 
vexing thorn, from which nothing but injury comes to 
mankind : nor yet that two-tongued pen, that thou 
shouldst give information to the government and the 
kingdom ; but rather, that double-tongued snake, for the 
wound of thy tongue can be nothing but hurtful poison : 
indeed, the snake has an excess of virtue over thee ; for, 
from one of his tongues comes poison, and from the other, 
the antidote flows ; whilst in thee, poison pours out from 
both tongues, and neither has any trace or token of the 
antidote. And it is right, that when nothing but antidote 
is produced by the tongue of any one, on account of his 
friends, if, for his enemies some poison should appear, it 
may be fit : just as an eminent man has said. Couplet. — 
" The antidote and the poison are to me, on the tip of the 
tongue ; the first shall be for my friends, and the other 
for my foes." 

Damanah said, Pass on from rebuking me; for perhaps 
reconciliation may grow up between the lion and Shanza- 
bah ; and again the foundations of affection and concord 
may be confirmed. Kalllah said, This speech, again, is 
out of the collection of those sayings which are mingled 
with impossibility : and thou, perhaps, hast never learnt 
that three things must be established, before the occurrence 
of three things ; after which, the settling of those things 
is of the class of what is forbidden, and their firm position 
is of the chapter of impossibilities. First, The water of 
a fountain or conduit is so long pleasant, as it has not 
reached the sea ; but when it has joined the ocean, pure- 
ness and sweetness may not again be expected from it. 



186 

Second, Union among relations will take place, so long 
as evil-disposed and wicked persons have not interfered 
among them ; but after it, the interference of the wicked 
and the malevolent, it is not possible to expect agreement 
and concord from relations and connections. Third, The 
springs of society and intimacy will for such a time be 
pure, as they do not give to tale-bearers and mischief- 
makers any opportunity of speaking ; but when double 
faced, double-tongued men have found an occasion for 
plausible talk between two affectionate friends, reliance 
cannot again be placed on their friendship. And, hereafter, 
if the ox should find escape from the paws of the lion, it 
is not possible that, by his gentleness and flattery, he 
should turn from his path, or shew any desire for recon- 
ciliation and confidence with him: or upon the supposition 
that the gates of intercourse should still be left open, there 
will be to each an apprehension of the other. Couplet. — 
" When a thread is broken, it may be tied again ; but a 
knot will be left in the midst." 

Damanah said, If I, relinquishing attendance on the 
lion, become a recluse in the corner of my cottage, and 
seizin"; with the hand of attachment the skirt of intercourse 
with thy virtues, draw the head of seclusion within the 
collar of retirement, — how might that be? Kalilah said, 
Far be it, that I should again keep company with thee ; 
or have any inclination for thy society; for I have always 
been alarmed at this close intimacy with thee ; and in my 
heart I have always rejected thy familiarity. For the 
Learned have said, that we ought to abstain from the 
society of the ignorant and the vicious ; and shew attach- 
ment to the service of the wise and virtuous : since an 
union with men of vice and profligacy is like rearing a 
snake: for bow much the more the snake catcher takes 
trouble in nursing it, after all, the flavour of venom will 
give out ;i smell from his gums. While waiting upon men 
of understanding and purity of morals is like the casket of 



137 

the apothecary: for if nothing of the contents falls to 
any man, in the end, the odours of his perfume will give 
fragrance to the palate. Verses. — " Be like an apothecary; 
for by the side of him the gown becomes perfumed by his 
fragrance. How long, like the forge of blacksmiths, wilt 
thou give on every side smoke and sparks." 

O Damanah ! how can one have any hope of thy faith- 
fulness and kindness; since against a king (who has made 
thee noble, honourable, confidential, and illustrious, to such 
an extent that, in the shade of his prosperity, like the sun, 
thou dost boast of rising higher ; and that, by reason of 
attendance upon his heaven-like threshold, thou dost place 
the foot of boasting on the forehead of the polar stars ;) 
thou hast thought such conduct allowable ; and hast 
imagined the claims of all his bounty and grace to be 
nothing. Couplet. — " Neither for justice nor for thyself 
hast thou any shame ; nor also any modest sense of 
manly feeling." And I, if I choose a distance of a thou- 
sand leagues from such a person, a noble understanding 
will hold me excused; and if I should renounce fellowship 
with such a worthless person, reason, our guide, will 
connect me with rectitude. Fragment. — " To break off 
intercourse with friends in appearance, is more agreeable ; 
for absence is pleasanter than the presence of one who is 
not congenial : that companion, by whose society thy 
mind is not gladdened, distance, to a hundred leagues 
from such a companion, is sweeter." And just as boundless 
advantages belong to the society of the virtuous and the 
holy; so mischiefs without end belong to an intercourse 
with the ignoble and wicked: and the society of bad men 
makes an impression more quickly ; and the evil of it 
becomes manifest in a little time. Therefore, he who is 
completely wise ought to form a friendship with wise men, 
approved in their life, speaking the truth, and sweet in 
temper; and should keep aloof from a companion, lying, 
treacherous, ill-natured, and profligate, f'crscs. — "As 



\3H 

long as it is possible to close the door in the face of 
mankind, sit down alone in the chamber of retirement. 
It is right to gain a virtuous companion ; for every black 
heart is not fit for society. I have a recollection of these 
words from a wise man, on whose pure soul be mercy, viz. 
with the foolish, every man who became intimate, by their 
intimacy at last, he became entangled. And whoever 
takes an unworthy friend, or strengthens himself by an 
ignorant friend, that happens to him, which happened to 
the gardener. 

Damanah asked what that was, and Kalilah said, 
Story. 

They have related that there was a gardener; for a long 
time he had been engaged in different kinds of agriculture; 
and had spent his dear life in laying out gardens and pleasure 
grounds. He had a garden, the paradise-like borders of 
which, by the deliciousness of its shrubs, had thrown the 
dust of envy into the eyes of the garden of Aram ; and by 
the freshness of its flowers and streams had fixed a scar of 
distraction on the bosom of the gardens of the palace of 
Bahrain : on its variegated trees the splendour of a pea- 
cock was apparent, and from its gold-painted flowers the 
the blaze of an imperial diadem was refulgent ; the surface 
of the ground was resplendent, like the countenance of a 
beauty wearing ornaments ; and the gales of the air were 
perfumed, like the cottage of a master-dealer in ambergris; 
the flourishing trees, with the quantity of fruit, like aged 
men with bent backs; while the fruit, trickling with 
lusciousness, like a heavenly sweetmeat ripened without 
the heat of fire; the colours of its vernal and autumnal 
fruits to an excess of delicacy, and the last degree of 
elegance; its apples, without evil, like the chins of silver- 
bodied heart-stealers, ensnared all hearts; and by their 
lovely colour, and exhilerating odour, had captivated a 
world of people, fragment. — " They have compared the 
apple to the chin of a mistress ; its colour grew red, and 



139 

the whole face was lighted up in the garden : the apple is 
a lamp, shining from the tree ; who has seen a lamp at 
the end of a branch, in the bright day ? " The pear had 
suspended, at every branch, jugs of the water of life, with 
pitchers full of a delicious juice of sugar; and by the offer 
of a delicate preserve excited the inclination of the indolent 
without capital or profit. Verses. — " What shall I say in 
praise of the pear ; for in sweetness and delicacy, it is so 
many bottles of fine sugar hanging from the branches." 
And the (juince, clothed in wool, like philosophers who 
rise by night, with its yellow complexion, had put forth 
its head from the cage of the monastery of creation : and 
its dust-soiled face had awakened the grief-soiled hearts 
of lovers from affection to their moon-like loves. Couplet. 
— " The quince is yellow with the sun, and I am yellow 
with my love; he from the moon and the sun, and I from 
the love of my mistress." The golden ball of the orange, 
shining from among the green leaves, like the globe of the 
sun blazing from the azure sky. And the gilded censer 
of the citron was sparkling in the courts of the garden, 
with its trancjuilizing perfume and exhilirating odours. 
Verses. — " Its pomegranates, smiling like the lips of the 
mistress of our heart, was to all parties as delicious as the 
lustre of her teeth. By way of experiment, the heavens, 
like a goldsmith, had cast the essence of rubies into the 
fire, (or the pomegranate.) When my reason would sing 
a description of the peach ; my discourse upon it would 
appear moist and sweet: as yet, its life is not come to our 
lip, when the juice of beauty and delicacy exudes from it." 
On one side there was an incomparable fig; such that 
the hand of power had fixed the quality of its beauty, in 
conformity with " and the fig ;" and had composed a 
rare sweetness out of fragrant herbs and fine sugar. On 
another side, a transparent grape 4 , the details of whose 
perfection the pen of wisdom had drawn upon the illus- 
trious page of " and in it we raised up grain and the 

T 



140 

grape ;" lay swelling, like a moist blister on the palm of 
the green leaf. And on the edge of the beds, the golden 
balls of the melons, with green ringlets and fair cheeks, 
like a new moon, which shews its face from the horizon 
of the azure-coloured sky, burst forth in splendour. 
Verses. — " Each melon ball, which had grown green in 
it. carried off the ball from the fruits of Paradise : with a 
freshness of ringlets, in the form of its hair never was ; 
breathing musk, musk never had that odour." 

And the old villager had so much attachment to each 
tree, that he had none of the enjoyments of a father, and 
no solicitude about children ; but passed his time in 
solitude in that garden. But the end of the matter w T as, 
that he got into a strait with the horrors of solitude ; and 
became to the last degree melancholv with the dread of 
being alone, and without a companion. Verse. — " Roses 
and violets, and all things, are here; but there is no friend: 
what is the good of them ? " 

But to the Story. From grief at being alone, he came 
forth to ramble in the plain ; and was taking a walk on 
the skirts of a hill, which, like the extent of the length of 
hope, the expanse of it was not susceptible of limit. By 
chance, a bear, foul-tempered, ugly in shape, disagreeable 
in appearance, and impure in nature, had also, on account 
of his solitary state, turned his face from the top of the 
hill to the bottom. And in the moment that they met, 
on both sides, by reason of being of like kind, the chain 
of affection came into motion ; and the heart of the peasant 
was disposed to the companionship and society of the bear. 
Couplets. — " The merest atoms that are in this earth and 
heaven, are, to their own kind, like the straw and the 
amber: bodies of lire are attractive to bodies of fire; bodies 
of light also seek bodies of light: what is pure, those who 
arc pure are fond of: and sorrow also, those who are 
dark draw to themselves. What is it that carries away 
\;nn persons'- sonic vanity: and what is it that is pleasing 



141 

to the wise ? a wise man. Men of error draw fools after 
them ; and all the rest are pleased with all the rest." 

The inexperienced bear, seeing the flattery of the peasant, 
was completely attached to his society; and upon a little 
signal, laying the head at his feet, entered the Paradise-like 
garden : and by enriching and honouring him with all 
those delicious fruits, friendship became confirmed be- 
tween them; and the roots of the shrub of affection found 
firmness in the piece of land of the heart of each. Verses. 
— " In the corner of the garden, they continued for a 
space ; in the union of each other constantly delighted." 

And whenever the gardener, from excess of weariness, 
would lay, in the shade of repose, the head of tranquility 
on the pillow of rest, the bear, from motives of love and 
affection, sitting at the edge of his pillow, would drive 
away the flies. Verse. — " I do not wish, moreover, that 
even a fly should cast a shadow on that lip." One day, 
the gardener, in his accustomed way, was gone to re'st, 
and had fallen into sleep ; and a great many flies being 
collected on his face, the bear was occupied in fly-driving; 
but as often as he used to drive the flies away, instantly 
they would return ; and as he would hinder them on this 
side, they would make an attack on the other side. The 
bear was exasperated, and taking up a stone, to the amount 
of twenty mans, (about half a ton,) with the design that 
" I will kill the flies," he cast it on the face of the helpless 
peasant. To the flies, no injury occurred from the danger 
of the stone; but the old gardener became all the same 
with the dust. And hence our forefathers have said, that 
in all circumstances, a wise enemy is better than a foolish 
friend. Couplet. — " A wise enemy, though he be the 
grief of the soul, is better than a friend who is ignorant." 

And I have quoted this Story for this ; that friendship 
with thee yields just the same result, as if the head should 
be in a situation of destruction, or the breast should 
become a target to the arrows of calamity. Couplet. — 









1 12 

" The society of fools is like an empty kettle ; which on 
the inside is destitute, and on the outside black." 

Damanah said, I am not such a fool that I do not 
distinguish what is beneficial to my friend from what is 
injurious: or that I cannot make a distinction of his good 
from his hurt. Kalilah said, I acknowledge this ; that 
thou art not in folly at that degree; yet the dust of sinister 
views makes the sight of the mind dark and corrupt: it is 
possible that, on account of some selfish object, thou wilt 
abandon the part of thy friend, and wilt make ready a 
thousand unsatisfactory explanations as an excuse for it : 
just as in the matter of the lion and Shanzabah, thou hast 
stirred up all this perfidy, and still dost make pretension 
to a pure garb and a good disposition. And the example 
of thee with thy friends, is like the example of that mer- 
chant, w T ho had said, " In a city where mice eat a hundred 
mans of iron, what wonder if a hawk should carry off 
a boy r " 

Damanah said, how was that ? 

Story. 

Kalilah said, They have related that a merchant, of 
small means, was going on a journey: by way of fore- 
thought, he put a hundred mans of iron in deposit, in the 
house of a friend ; so that if any necessity should occur, 
making that a source of livelihood, he might give some 
stability to the thread of subsistence. After the merchant 
had brought his journey to a conclusion, and had once 
more arrived at the object or his endeavours, he became 
in want of the iron: but the friend who had taken it in 
trust, had sold the iron, and spent the price of it. 

One day, the merchant went unto him to demand the 
iron, The trustee led him into the house, and said, 
" O sir ! I had laid by that iron in security, in a corner, 
and made my mind easy; thoughtless of this, that in that 
corner the hole of a mouse is situated: and by the time 
tint I became aware of it. the mouse had perceived the 



143 

opportunity to be great spoil, and bad entirely eaten tbe 
iron. The merchant answered, Thou sayest true ; for 
mice have a great affection for iron ; and their teeth have 
entire power over such a juicy and tender morsel. Couplet. 
— " To mice, mouthfuls of iron are, just like macaroni, 
a delight to the throat." 

The trust-worthy and veracious man, was rejoiced at 
hearing these words; and said to himself, — " This stupid 
merchant is deluded by this speech, and has taken off his 
heart from the iron : there is not any thing better than 
this, that I should do him hospitality, and should display 
the fashion of personal exertions in the feast ; so that a 
confirmation may arise to this affair/' So he gave the 
gentleman an invitation to an entertainment ; and said, 
Couplet. — " If to my hospitality thou wilt set thy foot in 
my cottage ; thou wilt do me a kindness, and shalt place 
thy foot on my eyes." 

The good man replied, " To-day an urgent engagement 
has occurred ; but I give a pledge, that in the morning 
at dawn I will come back." So he came out of his dwel- 
ling ; and carried away a son of his, and concealed him in 
his house. At day-break he presented himself at the 
gate of his host. The host, in a distracted state, loosened 
the tongue of apology, thus: O worthy guest ! hold me 
excused ; for ever since yesterday a son has been absent 
from me ; and two or three times they have sounded a 
proclamation in the city and the environs ; and I have 
not obtained any tidings of that lost one. Couplet. — 
" Jacob-like, bewailing, I make lamentations ; saying, 
ho ! ho ! who has any tidings of the lost Joseph ?" 

The merchant said, Yesterday, as I was coming out of 
thy house, I saw a boy, just of the description thou sayest, 
whom a hawk had carried off, and taking her flight, was 
bearing him through the air. The trusty man uttered a 
cry, saying, Stupid fellow! why dost thou utter impossible 
words; and for what purpose dost thou charge a life of 



144 

this enormity on thyself? A hawk, whose whole body 
cannot be half a man; how can she move, and carry into 
the air, a child which is of the weight of ten mans ? The 
merchant smiled, and said, Do not be surprised at this. 
Li a city, where a mouse is able to eat a hundred mans of 
iron, a hawk, too, is able to carry into the air a boy, who 
is ten mans. The trustee perceived how the case w r as, and 
said, Do not suffer grief, for the mouse has not eaten the 
iron. The merchant said, Do not be unhappy; for the 
hawk has not carried off thy son : give the iron, and take 
the boy. 

And I have told the Story, that tliou mayest know, that 
in a sect, where a man may shew perfidy to his bene- 
factor, it is clear, what he can imagine with respect to 
others : and since thou hast done this to the king, there 
is not left, to others towards thee, a hope of fidelity, or 
expectation of discharging thy duty. And to me it is 
cleat, that to keep away from the darkness of thy wicked- 
ness is necessary ; and to abstain from the blackness of 
thy deceitfulness and treachery is essential. Couplet. — 
" The bonds of prosperity arose from cutting such a 
fellow as thee: the chief source of happiness is not seeing 
thy face." 

When the conversation of Kalilah and Daman ah came 
to this point, the lion was at leisure from the affair of the 
OX, and had cast him into dust and gore. Yet, when the 
liqn, with the claws of chastisement, had settled the matter 
of Shanzabah ; and had cleared the space of the wilder- 
ness of his being ; when the strength of his anger and the 
violence of wrath had received quiet — he fell into medita- 
tion, and said to himself, Alas! for Shanzabah, w T ith such 
wisdom, and prudence, and judgment, and talents; I know 
not whether, in this business, I have drawn my breath in 
rectitude, moved my foot in error; nor whether in what 
they ha\e brought to me about him, they have fulfilled 
the rights of honesty, or taken the road of treachery. I at 



145 

least, have involved myself in calamity by reproaches ; and 
with my own hand have made a faithful friend to taste 
the drink of destruction. Couplet. — " Can a friend with 
a friend, after all, do this ; I am an infidel, if any infidel 
would do this." 

The lion, casting down his head in remorse, and loosen- 
ing the tongue of rebuke, kept blaming his own folly and 
hastiness ; whilst the form of Shanzabah, in the language 
of the occasion, was bringing to his ears the meaning of 
this quatrain. Quatrain. — " O friend ! does any one 
without cause, kill a friend ? and even then, does he kill 
such a faithful friend as me ? Do not call thyself a friend ; 
take thyself as an enemy to me. Y^ould any one so cruelly 
kill his enemy ? " 

The continual smile of the lion was, by sorrow for this 
event, changed into weeping : and his constitutional heat 
became twofold, by the burning of that occurrence. 
Couplet. — " The hand of thy departure has placed for me, 
the scar of sorrow in the breast ; so that from this thorn 
of grief for thee, what flowxr shall again blossom ?" 

Damanah, as from a distance, saw the signs of com- 
punction manifest on the forehead of the lion, and observed 
proofs of remorse on his front, breaking off the discourse 
of Kalilah, went before him and said. Verses. — " O king ! 
let the throne and prosperity be thy place ; the throne of 
the sky be thy couch : may thy flourishing head be exalted 
in joy ; and the head of thy foe cast at thy feet." 

What is the cause of thoughtful ness, and what can be 
the reason of reflection ? Where is there a time more 
joyful than this ? or a day more blessed than this ? When 
the king moves proudly in a station of victory and 
triumph ; and his enemy is wallowing in the dust of 
contempt, and the gore of disappointment. Couplet. — 
" The dawn of hope has drawn the sword of triumph; 
behold! the day of the enemy is come to an evening of 
destruction : behold ! " 



14G 

The lion said, Every time that I recollect the polite 
manners in attendance, and the forms and effects of the 
wisdom and society, and the many kinds of accomplishment 
of Shanzabah, an agony becomes victorious over me; and 
grief and consternation get triumphant over me: and in 
truth, he was the support and defence of the army, and 
the power of the arm of valour used to increase to my 
followers, by his assistance. Couplet. — u He is gone ; 
he, by whom the affairs of a world adds stability; he is 
gone ; he, by whom the house of the kingdom was firm." 

Damanah said, To the king there is no occasion for 
that despiser of his bounty, that traitor in practice ; but 
rather for this victory, which has shewn its face, he ought 
to set forth daily portions of thanks to God; and for this 
triumph, which has given him the hand, he should open 
the gates of exultation and rejoicing in the precincts of his 
heart. Couplet. — " The dawn of triumph has arisen from 
the eastern horizon of hope; to men of sinister designs 
the night of madness is come to an end." You should 
reckon this auspicious record of victory, (by which the 
chronicles of prosperity are adorned); and this mandate 
of august success, (by which the register of happiness 
becomes ornamented); as an illustrious preface, and a 
sublime opening, to the pages of the times. Fragment. 
— " This day, good fortune brings me glad tidings ; and 
to prosperity there arc a hundred melodies, in the key of 
hope. It is a day, this, which my heart, with thousands 
of prayers, has sought; it is a period, this, which my soul, 
with thousands of wishes, has desired." 

() king ! C) refuge of the world ! To have pity upon a 
person, from whom one cannot be secure as to life, is an 
error : and to make the enemy of the king a prisoner in 
the confinement of the grave, is the act of the wise. The 
finger, which is the ornament of the hand, and the instru- 
menl ^\' seizing and holding, if a snake should inflict a 
wound upon it, for the preservation of the rest of the body 



147 

they cut it off; and they reckon the pain of that wound 
as the essence of ease. Couplet. — " What work can the 
enemy do, that thou shouldest make mention of him; it 
is better that thou make thy heart glad in the loss of him." 
The lion, was a little soothed by these words. But 
fortune took just amends for the ox : at the conclusion of 
the affair, Damanah drew on to ignominy and disgrace ; 
and the shrub of his bad actions, and the seed of his false 
words coming to fruit, he was slain in retaliation for the 
ox. And the consequences of fraud and deceit have 
always been hateful ; and the conclusions of cunning 
and malevolence, despicable and unpropitious. Verses. 
— " The malevolent, even in his own project his head 
goes, like the scorpion, who seldom gets back to her home. 
If thou do evil, have no expectation of good : for the 
colocynth does not produce grapes for fruit. Do not 
fancy, O thou that hast sown barley in autumn, that thou 
shalt gather wheat in the time of harvest. A teacher 
spake a proverb, such as this: — do not evil, or thou shalt 
experience from fortune ; that man shall see good in both 
abodes, who brings happiness to the people of God. 



fSTIN A.ND sons, PRINTERS, HERTFORD. 



